


Flower in Bloom

by ScarecrowGhostX



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:15:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 82,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28969683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarecrowGhostX/pseuds/ScarecrowGhostX
Summary: on paper, Sakura felt she was a good shinobi but in practice, she is shown how much she lacks in the Land of Waves. In an effort to make sure she never holds her team back Sakura begins her trek to become a great shinobi.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Yamanaka Ino, Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto, Karin/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 14
Kudos: 47





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this on fanfiction.net. I don't know if I'll ever continue it but I figured I'd post what I got here and let you all see it.

Sakura leaned against the teacher's stand as she waited. She was assigned to Team Seven, and she was still processing if that was a good thing or not. Sasuke was on her team. He graduated top in the Tai and Ninjutsu areas of the class and second in academics. Still, he was cold and distant to everyone, especially she and Ino, for their time going around with his fan group. Her other teammate was Naruto, who sat at the bottom of the class in all ways. He was... blunt, loud, and currently setting up some kind of prank. She sighed and pushed off the teacher's stand, "Naruto-Kun, what are you doing?"

Naruto laughed, "setting up a prank as punishment for our sensei being late."

Sasuke scoffed, "LIke, a Jōnin would fall for that; it's so simple."

Sakura nodded as she walked over and pulled out a thread of ninja wire "of course, it won't work. That's why we're going to add a second one and see if he gets tripped up."

Naruto laughed with delight, and Sasuke scoffed as he turned away. She knew he'd disapprove, but if she was honest, a chance at getting their sensei back for making them wait this long was going to be worth it, and besides as annoying as Naruto could be, sometimes his pranks were pretty good.

The trio sat and waited for a few more minutes before they heard footsteps coming down the hall. Sakura looked over and noticed Sasuke had turned his attention back to the door. She smiled, hoping this would work. As the door opened, the eraser fell from its spot and landed squarely on the man's head as his ankle caught the wire, and he fell face-first into the room. Naruto laughed as boisterously and loudly as usual, and Sakura tried her best to hide her laughter. Sasuke sat there, disbelief, barely flickering across his face before going back to looking bored and unimpressed.

The first thing she noticed about their sensei as he stood up was his silver hair, and that his hitai-ate covers his left eye. He rubbed his face and quickly glanced between the three of them "hm not a great first impression. Alright, let's go to the roof, and we'll do some introductions."

Naruto grumbled loudly, and Sasuke followed quietly as always. Sakura discretely picked up and rewound her ninja wire up before slipping it into her weapon pouch on her hip. She jogged to catch up. Once they were all on the roof, the sensei who still hadn't introduced himself sat on the railing and looked them over again. "I am Kakashi Hatake. I'll be your Jounin sensei and the leader of Team 7. Let's go around and introduce ourselves. Give me a like and dislike and your dream."

Sakura rolled her eyes as Naruto burst into a spiel about ramen and how he would be Hokage someday. Everyone had heard his speech at least once, but she wasn't sure if anyone believed him. As he finished, she signed to herself and smiled. "Sakura Haruno I like... spending time in my friend Ino's flower shop, and I dislike pushy people who don't get the hint the first time. My dream, I guess, is to be useful to my village and hopefully be as good of a shinobi as my parents."

She smiled as sweetly as she could while Kakashi-sensei gave her a flat look before turning to Sasuke. Sakura looked over her shoulder as he spoke of how he didn't like much of anything and disliked a lot of things. She gulped when he glanced at her. She had been part of the fangirls who would follow him around, but it was short-lived, and she stopped doing that as quickly as she had started. Instead, she spent her time with Ino and the others from their graduation year. She had only really joined in because he was interesting and mysterious, but it also kept the other girls from teasing her as much. "There's a man I want- no, I need to kill. That is my dream, and I won't let anything stop me from achieving it."

Sakura looked on shocked at Sasuke's declaration of wanting to murder someone. She glanced at Kakashi, who didn't seem fazed, unlike Naruto, who was looking twitchy. The silence stretched for a minute before Kakashi sighed and stood up. "Alright, then we've got nothing to do today, but tomorrow we'll meet up at training ground seven bright and early in the morning for a... survival exercise so that I can gauge your ability for myself."

"Huh?! But we've done plenty of exercises in the academy. You should have access to that stuff, sensei." Sakura said before Naruto could blurt whatever he was going to say.

"This won't be like your academy exercises. It'll be the toughest thing you've ever done in your short lives, so rest up." he hopped onto the railing and looked back "Oh, and do be sure not to eat breakfast tomorrow. Wouldn't want you throwing up the whole time." He was gone in an instant leaving the three of them on the academy roof.

That night Sakura picked at her dinner, her nerves getting the better of her. Sasuke's dream had shaken her, and Kakashi-sensei's directions to not eat breakfast were getting to her. "So who's your sensei?" her father was staring at her from across the dinner table.

"Hatake Kakashi," she said simply. She had never heard of him and doubted her parents had until she looked up to see her mother had stopped cleaning and was looking at her father, who seemed equally concerned "Um, do you two know him?"

Her mother smiled "We've heard about him, but never had the... pleasure to meet him ourselves."

She looked to her dad, who nodded, "I'm sure you'll be fine, so did he give you any information on a mission or training?"

Sakura nodded, "he said we had a survival exercise tomorrow he wants to gauge our skills for himself, and he said not to eat breakfast. He didn't want us throwing up during the exam."

Her mother stifled a laugh, and her father smiled gently "we'll set up a good breakfast for this sort of exam, don't you worry."

Sakura just nodded and headed to her room after dinner. She was lying in bed as the sunset when a pebble knocked against her window; she sighed and went over, opening it, seeing Ino standing down there grinning "Ino what are you doing? Why aren't you just coming to the front door?"

"Because it's almost dark out, and I know your parents don't want you out and about after dark, but come on, we gotta talk about our first day with our new teams."

Sakura looked back at her door before slipping out the window and landing in a crouched position, making almost no noise like they taught in the academy. "Ok, but I need to get a good night's sleep. I have a pretty intense survival exercise tomorrow."

Ino made a face of disgust "ugh, I have training tomorrow as well. Asuma-sensei wants to see how well Chouji-Kun, Shikamaru-Kun, and I do with our combo moves."

Sakura laughed as they hopped the fence of her yard and walked the street, heading towards the park. "You three were guaranteed to be a team since you joined the academy, right?"

Ino groaned "yes! My dad would tell me all the time, 'you know you need to spend more time with your future teammates' usually on the way to the Nara or Akimichi clan grounds for some kind of meeting."

"Sounds like being in a big clan is stressful." Sakura bumped her shoulder against Inos.

"Yeah, only if you're an heir or the current head." Ino leaned onto Sakura, "You have it so much nicer Sakura. No one expects you to act a certain way. You don't have all these extra clan responsibilities to take care of and extra training."

Sakura reached around and rubbed her friend's shoulder "I thought you liked the flower shop."

"That's the only place I like doing clan stuff, because there are plenty of ladies who love to gossip, and I can stay informed about what's going on in the village."

Sakura laughed, and the two walked shoulder to shoulder till they got to the park where they sat on the swings and Ino broke the silence "So you got on a team with Sasuke."

Sakura sighed; she knew her best friend was going to bring this up "Yeah, I did so far; he's just as aloof and too cool for all this as he usually seems." she decided to keep his dream of murder to herself.

Ino hummed "I'm so jealous. You get to spend so much time with him now."

Sakura kicked a rock as she swung lightly. "I don't really care. I just hope I can work well with him and Naruto-Kun."

"Ugh, right, you got on a team with him as well. How's that gone so far?"

Sakura giggled "we pulled a prank on our sensei cause he was late. I set up a tripwire, and Naruto-Kun put a chalkboard eraser on the top of the door."

"There's no way that worked, right?"

"Actually, he fell for both of them. That might be why he gave us the exercise tomorrow as punishment for the prank."

Ino rolled her eyes, "Serves you right. You've always encouraged Naruto-Kuns pranks."

Sakura shrugged, "I encourage certain ones, so he doesn't get in too much trouble. I always hate seeing him get chewed out for the really bad ones."

The two talked for a few hours as they sat and walked around the park. Sakura was mostly listening to Ino talk gossip and complain about clan stuff that she could tell Sakura about. Sakura was glad Ino didn't get mad about her being on Sasuke's team. She knew her friend had a crush on him, and for a while, she thought she did as well, but his aloofness had turned her away. Though she couldn't deny he was one of the more skilled members of their graduating year, and she knew if he just acknowledged she had some skill that would mean she was on track to be as good as she knew her parents were.

Once they were back in Sakura's yard, Ino hugged her "we're finally shinobi, so be careful, Sakura. We've got to be the best kunoichi we can be."

Sakura hugged her back tight. "I'll be careful as long as you are ok? Be sure to come back safe and sound, and I'll do that same."

Once they said goodnight, Sakura climbed back into her room and nearly fell out the window when she saw her mom looking at her "how's Ino?"

The next morning Sakura came down to a breakfast of rations. Her father smiled "The best thing to eat are rations. Bland nearly flavorless, and they won't throw your stomach out of balance. I have some extras to give to your teammates if their parents aren't as great of shinobi like yours."

Sakura flinched, realizing she hadn't told them who her teammates were. "Oh yeah. My teammates are Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki."

Sakura's mother smacked her father's head "way to go Kizashi."

She smiled, watching her father defend himself as she ate her bland breakfast and packed away the rations into her pouch. With forced cheerfulness, she waved goodbye to her parents and left. Sleep was trying to force its way back into Sakura's mind as she arrived at training ground seven. She yawned and waved, "good morning."

She was surprised to see Naruto and Sasuke here before her. The two boys nodded to her. Acknowledgment from Sasuke was surprising but not as surprising as Naruto's subdued good morning. It was an unreasonable time to be awake, though, so it was understandable. After some time passed and sensei still hadn't arrived, Sakura pulled out the rations "you two eat?"

The boys shook their heads, "Kakashi-sensei said not to cause we'd throw up." Naruto said, looking at the bars hungrily.

"My parents said it'd be fine to eat this kind of stuff before this kind of thing, so I took some extra if you two didn't eat."

Naruto thanked her and took his share digging in right away. Sasuke looked weary, and Sakura smiled "I promise your fangirls didn't get a hold of them. They're safe to eat."

Sasuke looked like he was about to debate, but his growling stomach stopped him, and he took the bars with a muted thanks. Minutes turned into hours before finally Kakashi showed up, making Naruto and Sakura groan in unison "you're late!" they both shouted.

Kakashi waved his hand, dismissively, "ran into a cat who was giving me trouble and had to ditch him before I could get here. Now the rules for this little exercise of ours." he produced two silver bells on red strings. "Your mission is to get these two bells off me and bring them back to the three training posts here. You have until twelve o'clock any of you who fail to do so... will be sent back to the academy."

The three genin gapped "what?! You can't do that?!" Naruto screeched

Kakashi's eye crinkled around the edges in a smile, "yes, I can. Every Jōnin sensei can decide to give their genin team a final test, and should the genin fail, they will be sent back to the academy. Now once I start this timer, you will begin. Do be sure to come at me with the intent to kill if you don't you won't stand a chance at passing."

Sakura grabbed the collar of Naruto's jacket before he could rush their sensei. Kakashi smiled, and Sasuke spoke, "there are only two bells, one of us is guaranteed to fail."

"Hm, is that so? Oh well... start." he started the timer.

Sakura pulled Naruto along with her as she followed Sasuke, who looked annoyed. The three of them landed in the woods, and Sasuke gritted his teeth and whispered, "Why are you following me?"

Sakura blushed, "w-we need a plan. He's a Jōnin; we can't just run at him."

"Why bother? There's no way all of us can pass."

"Yeah... but we have a better chance of passing if we work together. Once we have the bells, we can decide what to do from there right, Naruto-Kun?'

Sakura needed him to agree. If he did, it was more likely that Sasuke would put up with them and work together. Naruto nodded. "Sakura-san is right. I know you're just a loner, and I could so take him in a fight. I don't want to risk failing this. I just got my Hitai-ate I- I can't lose it."

She wasn't sure how he had graduated, but he was prouder than most, and she had seen him thanking Iruka-sensei before class yesterday, who wasn't wearing his at the time. Sasuke groaned, "FIne. what are we going to do?"

Sakura tapped her chin, "what about traps. We saw them work when he came into the room when we first met."

Sasuke rolled his eyes "no way he'll let us set up traps in here. He's probably getting ready to make some kind of move."

"Oh, oh oh what if we distract him. I can go buy time, and you can set up traps." Naruto bounced excitedly in his spot.

Sakura smiled "That's not bad. You and Sasuke can buy me time. You two are faster and better at taijutsu than me, so once I'm ready, I'll signal, and you can try to lead him back here."

Sasuke nodded, "then once he's in the middle of it all, we ambush him and steal the bells?"

Sakura nodded and looked at her teammates, hopefully. Naruto grumbled, "I don't need Sasuke's help keeping him busy."

Sakura saw Sasuke about to bite back, so she jumped in, "maybe not, but we want to be careful, right? Give ourselves the best chance we can, and besides, a Hokage knows how to lean on others even if he doesn't need it."

Naruto's face lit up, and he agreed to let Sasuke help him keep Kakashi busy. Sasuke looked impressed for a second, but he kept his face neutral when he saw Sakura looking at him.

Kakashi looked around the training field "Hm, they're all near each other planning maybe? They're not hiding very well... looks like two are moving in opposite directions Ah Sasuke and Naruto, of course. Sakura hasn't left her spot yet... perhaps I'll go after-" he took a step back as a kunai thunked into the ground at his feet. He looked up and saw Naruto standing arms crossed on the other side of the open field.

"Come fight me one on one. I'll take you down and beat this exercise all on my own!"

Kakashi groaned internally _'it was going so well for them too.'_

Naruto ran at him head-on, but came to a halt as Kakashi reached into the pouch on his hip, and pulled out a book _'guess I'll get some reading done while I deal with this.'_

Naruto screamed and rushed him again, throwing wild punches and kicks. Kakashi wasn't very surprised by Naruto's lack of a fighting style and relatively predictable and telegraphed attacks, so Kakashi was able to focus on 'make-out paradise.' He had read this volume a few times, but it was his favorite. Kakashi felt Sasuke approaching from the back and grabbed Naruto's ankle as he went for a high kick, and with a quick turn, he threw Naruto into the river. Kakashi had just enough time to turn and throw his leg up to block Sasuke's kick; he was surprised when the Uchiha, instead of falling back, launched another attack. Kakashi quickly slipped his book back into his pouch as he blocked the continuing volley of attacks. _'He sure is aggressive. Though considering what he's been through, he probably feels the need to be like this.'_

Sasuke grunted and backflipped away just in time for Naruto to burst out of the river though there was more than only one of them. At least seven Narutos ran out of the river to rush Kakashi. _'Kage Bunshin?'_ Kakashi fell back but had to abandon that as Sasuke ran through hand seals. _'A Katon at his age?'_

Sakura heard the sounds of fighting in the field, but she didn't have time to worry about the boys; she needed to work quickly and thoroughly. She didn't have much in the way of trap makings, but it should suffice. There were a few explosive tags, kunai or shuriken launching traps, and several pitfalls or snars. She hoped they weren't too much and pulled out her last kunai and tied the explosive tag to the end. Once she was at the edge of the forest, she saw Kakashi throw three Narutos at Sasuke before kicking another Naruto who exploded into smoke. She decided to signal now and threw the kunai at Kakashi, who easily caught it and threw it towards the river where it exploded. The boys untangled themselves and started running to Sakura while throwing several shurikens at Kakashi. Naruto threw in some choice insults to try and egg the Jōnin on into giving chase.

Kakashi rubbed his chin, _'so they're trying to lead me into a trap? We'll let's see how well they did at it.'_

He ran into the forest, spotting several traps that were relatively well made, but to a Jōnin of his level, they were easy to spot and avoid most of them. He could see the two boys jumping from tree to tree and followed them through what he thought was a safe path only to realize they weren't as Sakura cut a line and a volley of kunai peppered the tree where he had been standing. The three genin ran deeper into the woods, and Kakashi lost sight of them but quickly found Sakura kneeling on the ground hiding reasonably well. She was looking around frantically for him. _'I suppose I'll take her down first.'_

He dropped down behind her, and she faded away _'ah a clone.'_

Two camouflage blankets flew away as Sasuke and Naruto rushed him from close up. He grabbed each of them and looked at Sasuke, who was trying to throw a kick. This left him open, and Sakura jumped out from her blanket on the floor and grabbed the bells while Kakashi threw the boys into trees. Sakura hit the ground and threw the bells one to each of them. "Run!"

She scrambled to her feet as the boys took off towards the post. Sakura pulled a kunai out of a tree and stood between Kakashi and the boys. "You're staying behind to keep me busy and buy your team time to get away... that's entirely expected of a shinobi. You're a good kid, Sakura-chan, and probably you're going to be a good shinobi, so I'll apologize in advance for this."

Before she could say anything, she felt his chakra invade her senses, and when she blinked, he was gone. She looked around frantically and spotted Sasuke coming towards her "wait, Sasuke-Kun, not that-" she was too late, and he tripped a wire sending a volley of shuriken into his chest and neck.

Sasuke and Naruto stopped as they heard Sakura scream in the woods. "We should go back and get her!" Naruto shouted as he looked back at the woods.

Sasuke shook his head, "no way you heard that scream she's done, and he's coming for us next."

Before Naruto could retaliate, Kakashi shunshined between the two delivering swift hits to the back of their necks, knocking them out, team seven woke up leaned up against the three training posts. To see Kakashi standing in front of them, "good afternoon, genin glad to see you've all woken up."

Sakura rubbed her head "that was a pretty messed up genjutsu sensei."

"I did apologize in advance for that. You all did well, but you failed."

Naruto punched the ground, and Sasuke looked like barely contained anger, and Sakura sighed defeated. "I guess we'll be going back to the academy?"

Kakashi tapped his chin. "Hm, no, you won't be. You have a lot of work ahead, but you three showed teamwork, which was the point of this. Now follow me. I want to show you something." they stood and followed their sensei to a stone memorial "this is the Memorial stone where those who died in the line of duty are immortalized as heroes. My test was designed to see if you could work as a team even when you know there's no guarantee you'll all survive. You have pretty good teamwork. It could use some work which we'll get to eventually. You three," he looked directly at Sasuke, "need to understand a basic rule: those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends and comrades are worse than scum. Now any questions?"

Naruto raised his hand as he looked at the memorial stone "yeah, Sensei, who's Kushina Uzumaki? She's got my last name."

Sakura saw Kakashi flinch. "Ask the Hokage, and maybe he'll tell you if not come to me. Anything else?"

The genin shook their heads, and Kakashi smiled. "Good now. I'll see you tomorrow same time, and we'll start training."

As they started to leave, Kakashi put a hand on Sakura's shoulder, "ah not you. We need to clean up the forest of all the traps, and I have questions for you."

Sakura grumbled and trudged over to the woods. "What do you want to know, Sensei?"

"You spent time with Sasuke-Kun and Naruto-Kun before the academy what were they like?"

Sakura hummed as she started disarming and picking up her traps. "Naruto-Kun is the same as always. He would pull pranks and be as loud as he could. I think it was Shikamaru-Kun, who first put in the effort to include him in something which was odd. We would spend time with him at the parks-."

"And the pranks he pulled?"

Sakura blushed "I would try to push him towards less intense ones that he wouldn't get in as much trouble for doing. He's annoying and loud, but fun and always cheerful, he never let the shit adults said to him or did to him get him down. Though not everyone was mean to him, sometimes there would be an adult who would chew out someone for being rude to him when he didn't do anything or pay for damages if his pranks broke something."

Kakashi hummed, "and what about Sasuke-Kun? You looked surprised by his dream."

Sakura slowly wrapped the ninja wire up and looked at the ground. "He was shy in the beginning, always clinging to his brother. We started to get him out of his shell, and he seemed happy then... his family. After that, he just shut down. Then his fangirls started following him around, and he hated it; they were annoying to him."

"Were you part of that?"

She blushed and nodded, "Yes, Sensei. Only for a while, though, it kept the other girls from teasing me. I think he still thinks I'm one of them."

Kakashi patted her head and dropped the last of the trap makings at her feet "don't worry little flower we'll do some trust exercises, and I'll make sure you're all ready for life as a shinobi."

Sakura ran into Ino on the way home, and the two girls complained about their training today as they ate Dango. Ino leaned on Sakura, "ugh Asuma-sensei said we had a lot of work to do before we could be even be considered Ino-Shika-Cho. He's scheduled us for formation exercises for the next week before he'll even let us take a D rank mission."

Sakura patted her friend's shoulder "It'll be ok Ino I have to do trust and team-building exercises Kakashi-sensei didn't even mention when would start missions."

Ino laid her head on Sakura's shoulder "I'm gonna be so sore."

Sakura laughed, "we'll go to the bathhouse at the end of the week. How about that? Wash away the tiredness, so we're both ready for our first missions."

"You're my best friend." she stood up suddenly. "I need to get home though dad wants to run through clan Jutsu with me. I'll see you around Sakura."

Sakura nodded and waved as Ino left. She was going to miss not being able to spend as much time with her best friend as she used to. Days went by arriving at training field seven and waiting for hours with her teammates for their sensei to show up. He would have them run warmups and do solo training before starting a team exercise, a lot of which was sparing against him three on one, or the three of them fighting each other all at the same time. Sakura could tell she was behind her teammates in terms of skill, and it frustrated her, but she couldn't seem to find a way to get ahead. Some days team exercises were swapped out for trust-building. Eventually, on Saturday, after a particularly long sparing session, he motioned for them to gather around. "Alright, my cute genin squad time to teach you how to walk up a tree."

They looked between themselves, and Sasuke spoke up first "we can climb trees sensei. We did it a lot."

"Yes, you have Sasuke-Kun, but have you done it with no hands?"

"No, I don't think any of us had done that before," Sakura said as Kakashi walked over to a tree.

They watched as he planted a foot on a tall tree and started to walk up the tree with just his feet. He stood upside down on a tree branch and looked down at them "You'll have to control your chakra and channel it into your feet at a constant and controlled rate. It'll take time to get it right, so instead of single training, I'll have you do this. Also, tomorrow we start taking missions. They'll be D rank, so don't expect them to be huge or take place outside of the village." he shot Naruto a look before he could protest.

That night Sakura met up with Ino. Who grabbed her and pulled her along. "Come on. We're heading to my place; it's been too long, and my mother had the bathhouse revamped last month so we can use it in peace and quiet without a bunch of chatty baasan."

Sakura laughed as she let her friend pull her along. "Aw, but the chatty baasan love you, Ino."

"Yeah, well, I just want to relax with my friend I'll catch up with them when they come to get flowers from the shop."


	2. Land of Waves Arc: C Rank Mission

Team Seven started taking missions that ranged from animal rescue to doing repair work for businesses and homes. They took whatever they could get even though Naruto would complain about basically doing chores for the village. Several months went by, and one day Sakura landed on the training grounds to find Sasuke alone. She hesitated and walked up, "Yo."

She mentally kicked herself for that stupid greeting, but he just looked at her and nodded. She looked around "are we the only one's here? I figured Naruto would be here practicing water walking before Sensei showed up."

"Actually, they both showed up at the same time they're by the Memorial Stone; it looks like they are talking, so I'm just waiting over here till they're ready."

Sakura looked over and saw Kakashi and Naruto kneeling in front of the Memorial Stone. Naruto had a somber look on his face as Kakashi spoke and gestured with his hands. "I guess that Uzumaki on the stone is related to him. Do you think Kakashi-sensei knew her well?"

Sasuke shrugged, "I didn't listen in. If it's about his people, we best stay out of it. It's his business, and Naruto will tell the team if he wants to."

Sakura nodded. She had noticed recently that Sasuke and Naruto both dropped the honorifics when talking about each other. She felt a little jealous that they did. The two boys still fought and teased each other, but now it was more friendly like they were rivals, and not in an, I hate that guy kind of way. She jumped a bit when Sasuke spoke again, "Sakura-chan I want to-" his face contorted like he was struggling to think of how to say it. "Apologies, I guess. I assumed you were part of that annoying fan club and didn't trust you despite being on a team with you, but I realize now you aren't with them and haven't been for a while, have you?"

She shook her head "No, I haven't, and thank you for realizing I'm just here as your teammate, and friend if you want."

Sasuke looked like he was considering it very seriously before nodding, "thank you."

Kakashi and Naruto came over after a few more minutes. Sakura noticed Naruto had been crying but looked overall happy. Kakashi looked at his genin squad and nodded, "alright, my cute genin warm-ups and then personal training. Sasuke and Naruto water walking, and Sakura taijutsu sparring with me."

Sakura groaned as the boys made their way to the river to start training. "Sensei, am I your least favorite? Is that why I have to fight you so much?"

Kakashi's eye crinkled in that way, which meant he was smiling "you all drive me crazy in your own unique ways. I'm doing this because you admitted to being the weakest of the three in taijutsu, so I'm making sure you can hold your own in a one on one fight at least. Now hurry up and do your stretches before we start."

After a morning of intensive exercise Team, Seven stopped and ate lunch on their way to the mission desk. Along the way, Sakura saw a young boy with Naruto's old goggles on and a long blue scarf coming running up to them and excitedly talking to Naruto about training, and how well he's doing mastering the academy three, and how his tips have helped the boys' friends. Sakura smiled as the boy ran off before looking at Naruto "you got yourself a kouhi already Naruto-Kun? We've only been genin for a few months."

Naruto smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "That's Konohamaru; he's ojiisans grandson. I knocked out his perv of a teacher and started to help him get ahead in his class. He's tired of everyone seeing him as the Hokage's grandson, so he wants to be Hokage too. He even said he'd fight me for the right when the time comes!'

His team shook their head because Naruto had found a kid as driven as him to try and become Hokage. It didn't take long for them to get to the mission desk where Iruka-sensei sat sorting through missions. "Ah, Team Seven good timing I have just the mission for you. Pet retrieval for one Toro, the cat. It's a request from the Daimyo's wife, so be sure to accomplish it quickly."

He tossed the mission scroll to Kakashi, who caught it and turned to leave while he unfurled the scroll to the storage seal in it where four sets of radios popped out. He handed them to the team, and once everyone had them equipped, they left the central building. "Alright, we'll be heading to the southern woods; that's where the target was last spotted. Toro is a frequent runaway, so he's used to genin chasing him, don't take him lightly, or he'll slip past you."

"Yes, sensei!" the three said in unison as they followed Kaakshi to the woods.

It took several hours of tracking and at least one close call, but as the day was winding down, the demon cat Toro was back in the death grip of love that is the Daimyos wife. When they returned the cat and got paid, the Hokage was there smiling and smoking his pipe. "Excellent work, Team Seven. Now, if you're interested in another mission this afternoon, we have several requests from T&I asking for genin to help clean up some interrogation rooms."

The genin shuttered and shook their heads fervently. Naruto spoke up, "come on, Jiisan, I'm tired of these boring missions. We can so handle something more important!"

"Oi Naruto-" the Hokage held a hand up silencing Iruka-sensei.

"You think you're ready for a more advanced mission? Hmm alright, then I have the perfect one for you. An escort mission to the Land of Waves C rank, so you best not take it lightly. Do you want it?"

Naruto grinned and looked at Kakashi, who just nodded, "we'll take it."

Naruto jumped and shouted, "who are escorting? A Daimyo? Or maybe a princess?"

The Hokage motioned for one of the chunin, "let our guest in please?"

Naruto deflated as an older man came in taking a swig from a sake bottle. "Eh, these are my bodyguards for the trip home? They're just a bunch of kids and a half-blind man and what's with the orange punk and pinkie over there standing out like sore thumbs."

Sakura bit her tongue and looked up and saw Kakashi-senseis eye twitch. Naruto, on the other hand, took personal offense to that. "What'd you say old man?! I'm Uzumaki Naruto I will be Hokage one day, and you talk shit about my team again-"

Kakashi punched him on the top of his head "shush genin." Kakashi looked to the old man, "I'm Hatake Kakashi. We are Team Seven; they may be genin, but they're good and will keep you safe."

"Names Tazuna I'm a bridge-builder I came here to get supplies ordered for my current project, and I need an escort back home and protection while I finish work." he took a swig of his sake "I'll need to leave tomorrow if I'm to get the bridge done on time."

Kakashi nodded, "alright, Team Seven, go home and pack. We'll be meeting at the front gate at 0600. Dismissed."

The team split up and headed to their homes to pack. Sakura entered her home, slipping her shoes off "I'm home!"

Mebuki poked her head out of the kitchen "welcome home, dear. How was it today?"

Sakura hugged her mother, "good, I'm going on a mission tomorrow. It'll last a few weeks."

Her father walked in, "what is this I hear about my little girl going on a mission?"

Sakura nodded as she started to help her mother make dinner. "Yep C rank escort mission. We have to escort the client and keep an eye on him till he finishes with his work."

Her parents looked between themselves, and her father spoke. "C rank you say? That seems a little soon. Though I guess it's peacetime so it shouldn't be too risky. Just be sure to keep safe and work with your team."

She hugged her dad, "I will don't worry."

That night Sakura double-checked her mission pack and went to bed early. The next morning after a quick breakfast, she said her goodbyes and headed to the main gate. Sasuke and Naruto were there waiting with Tazuna. She waved, and the group chatted idly, waiting about half an hour for Kakashi to show up. Once he was, the group signed out and got moving at a civilian's pace. The team took a rotating formation keeping Tazuna protected from all sides while not stagnating their positions. Three days into their trip, Sakura spotted a puddle in the road, which was odd. They were near a river sure, but it hadn't rained in a few days she caught Kakashi's eye and used Konoha sign language to flash 'caution.'

Kakashi moved to the back of the formation as they passed the puddle. Once Kakashi's back was to it, two shinobi jumped from it a chain between the two of them wrapped around Kakashi as Sakura stepped in front of Tazuna Kakashi signed 'stall' before the chain tightened and tore him apart. Naruto took a step back as they shunshined behind him, ready to strike. Naruto dropped down, kicking the leg out from one of them as Sasuke threw a kunai pinning the chain to the ground. As the two shinobi detached the chain, Naruto launched up kneeing one in the chin as Sasuke took on the other. Sakura kept Tazuna behind her while keeping both the fights in her line of sight. Naruto made several of his shadow clones to surround his opponent and swarm him. Sasuke's match was going slightly less well as he got kicked into a tree. Before the shinobi could capitalize on it, Kakashi appeared and knocked him out. Narutos clones tied them up as Kakashi identified them as The Demon Brothers Gozu and Meizu Chunin level missing-nin from Kirigakure.

"What should we do with them?" Sakura asked as they stood around their captured ambushers.

Kakashi cracked his neck and looked around. "I'll take care of them, but first, I need to talk with our client because I get the feeling you didn't tell us the whole truth. Who's making you so scared you needed to hire shinobi?"

Tazuna took a sip of his sake and sat down. "The Land of Waves, my home one year ago, came under Gato shipping's wretched eye. Gato showed up and effectively bought out all the imports and shipping lanes he crippled our economy, and his thugs keep anyone from trying to work around him, so I decided to build a bridge to screw him over. I knew he was going to send people, but I thought it'd be standard thugs, not shinobi."

"So, this Gato guy is like really rich or something?" Naruto asked.

Tazuna nodded, "he's one of the richest men in the world. He makes his money through mostly illegal activity though no one can touch him because of his connections."

Kakashi looked at his team "this mission is at least a B rank now because of chunin level shinobi. We should abandon the mission and head back to let a more experienced team take over. I should as your Jōnin leader make that choice, but I'll leave the choice to you three."

Sakura looked between the two boys who nodded at each other and looked at her. _'Ah, it's my choice. Of course.'_ Sakura took a deep breath "it'll be hard, but I think we should continue the mission we're ready for this, and we'll show anyone who comes at us just how good Konoha shinobi are Sensei."

"That's what I like to hear," Kakashi said before walking over and slitting the demon brother's throats before pulling out a storage scroll. Sakura bit back the bile that rose in her throat, but she didn't look away as her Sensei stored the bodies for identification and investigation once they were back home. It took another day before they reached the coast and got a small boat to take them across to the Land of Waves, where the fog was thick, effectively killing their ability to see anyone coming. "Too bad, none of us are Kanchi," Sakura said as she tried to see anything through the fog.

Sasuke grunted, and Naruto nodded, looking lost. "Kanchi nin can sense other people's chakra." Sasuke said, "you should brush up on your different types of shinobi when we get back dead last."

"What?! I knew what they were!"

"Shut it; do you want us to get caught before we make it to land. I'm risking a lot by bringing you here." The boat owner said. He was currently paddling the boat as quietly as he could since he cut the engine a half-hour ago.

Tazuna, still sipping his sake, patted the man's arm. "Thank you again for this, and hopefully, when this is over, you won't have to be so cautious."

After a few more minutes, they were docked and disembarked "alright, we just need to get to the next town over, and we'll be home, then I can start working again."

They were only walking for a few minutes when they passed by a lake. Kakashi stopped suddenly, making Naruto run into him. "Oi sensei, what's the deal."

"Somethings not- get down!" he pushed Naruto down and nearly tackled Tazuna as Sasuke and Sakura dropped to the dirt. A giant sword flew by embedding itself in a tree as a thin but well-built man covered in bandages landed on the handle and looked down at them all.

"Look at what we have here a bunch of Leaf brats, and Kakashi Hatake himself."


	3. Land of Waves arc: Not a C Rank Mission

Kakashi cursed as he stood up "Zabuza Momochi S rank missing-nin from Kirigakure. You lot have to stay back, keep Tazuna safe you'll only get in my way." He reached up and grabbed his Hitai-ate. Sasuke and the others surrounded Tazuna kunai at the ready. Sasuke stared intently at Kakashi as he raised his Hitai-ate, revealing his eye, which was red with a pupil surrounded by three tomoe. Sasuke's hand trembled, tightening around his kunai. "Where the hell did you get that?!"

Zabuza laughed "oh, is that little brat an Uchiha? Thought you had killed yourselves off."

Kakashi held up a hand "Don't Sasuke we can talk if over later. For now, stay back. This demon of the mist is mine to fight."

"I'm honored that Copycat Kakashi is going all out for me." in an instant, Zabuza flashed and brought his sword down. Kakashi blocked it with a kunai they struggled locked in that position before Zabuza jumped back and flew through a series of hand signs "Kirigakure no Jutsu." he stepped back into the thickening mist disappearing.

"Tsk damn hiding in the mist. Careful, he's a master of silent killing." The trio lost sight of their sensei. The only sign he was still around was the occasional sound of Zabuza's weapon being blocked by Kakashi or hitting the ground in a dull thud. Kakashi's Sharingan scanned the mist, trying to find Zabuza.

Sakura heard Zabuza laughing as he spoke, "you three brats call yourselves shinobi, but you look like you haven't even killed a man yet. You can't be considered real shinobi in my eyes till you kill."

Sakura stiffened as she felt a breath on the back of her neck. Zabuza whispered, "too bad, you'll all be dead before you get a chance."

Sakura turned in time to retrieve a punch to the gut that sent her flying into a tree. Sasuke shoved Tazuna back as Naruto deflected Zabuza's sword. "Come on, you little fakes!" he spun and smacked Naruto away with his blade's flat. "Kubikiribōchō seems to be getting dull. I'll need some fresh blood to sharpen her up!"

Sasuke threw a volley of kunai to give Naruto time to recover. He looked at Sakura, who still hadn't gotten up. "Naruto, fall back, we need to keep Tazuna safe!"

"Sakura-"

"Fall back, I'll get her! Now protect Tazuna!"

Kakashi flew into the fight taking Zabuza's attention as Sasuke ran over and pulled Sakura over his shoulder before booking it back to the others. Meanwhile, Zabuza grabbed Kakashi and threw him into the lake. Kakashi pulled himself up onto the water's surface, but it clung to him heavy and thick _'shit water prison!'_

Zabuza appeared next to him and ran through the hand signs, "Suirō no Jutsu!"

A sphere of water formed around Kakashi immobilizing him. "Damn it!"

Sakura groaned as she came around to see Sasuke standing over here kunai at the ready. He glanced down, "It looks like you're awake. Get up, we've got a problem."

She got up and saw the situation they were in. Kakashi sat in a water prison while Zabuza stood next to him with his hand jammed into the water. "Crap, how are we going to deal with this?"

"You aren't dealing with this, you're going to grab Tazuna and run! That's an order!" Kakashi shouted through the prison.

Sakura looked at the boys who shook their heads "I don't think we can follow those orders sensei. Someone who leaves their comrade behind is worse than scum, and we had a good Sensei who taught us not to be scum."

Naruto grinned, "hell yeah, Sakura! Let's take this guy down!" he pounded his fist together as Sasuke nodded and adjusted his grip on his kunai. Naruto rummaged around in his pack and tossed two Fuma shuriken, one to Sasuke and one to Sakura. "I've got an idea, but it looks like we have company."

Sakura had to rub her eyes to make sure she was seeing a clone and not seeing double because she hit her head. Sasuke grunted, "we'll deal with him and then the real one."

Zabuza's clone charged them, kicking Naruto, who puffed into a cloud of smoke. The Zabuza clone looked around, trying to find the real one. He fell back as Sasuke threw a volley of shuriken, and five Narutos rushed from different directions. Sakura put herself between Zabuza and Tazuna, who was hiding behind a tree. Sasuke deflected swings with Zabuza's sword as the naruto squad swarmed him, but Zabuza's water clone just kept coming. Sakura looked at her Fuma then the real Zabuza. "Sasuke! Throw the fuma!"

He looked over as she started to unfurl the fuma. His eye followed hers, and he smirked, "got ya. Dead Last, keep the clone busy."

Naruto nodded and poofed more clones into existence to try and swarm the Zabuza clone.

"Alright, Sakura, do it!" Sasuke shouted as he threw his fuma.

She did the same; the two shurikens flew in tandem one above the other. Zabuza jumped and turned himself parallel to the surface of the water as the shuriken flew past him. "Heh, good try kids-"

The two fuma poofed into Naruto's who grinned and threw kunai, one embedded into Zabuza's back, making him pull himself free of the prison. It popped, and Kakashi landed on the water. The other kunai hit the clone, dispelling it. Zabuza cursed as he started to run through another set of hand signs. Team Seven looked on in awe as their sensei Kakashi began to run through the same hand signs, eventually saying at the same time "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!"

Two massive dragons made of water rose from the water and fought, but Kakashi overpowered Zabuzas and threw the missing-nin in a flood of water against the tree. Kakashi was running going in for the kill when he stopped in his track as senbon sprouted from Zabuza's neck, making him fall to his knees gasping before he keeled over. "Thank you for your hard work, Konoha shinobi, but I'll be taking this kill."

A shinobi wearing a white mask with red waves on it and the Kirigakure symbol on it landed a few feet from Zabuza's corpse as Kakashi checked its pulse. "An Oi-nin from Kirigakure, what a coincidence." He held a hand up to keep his team back as they approached.

"Not a coincidence Shinobi-san. I have been tracking Zabuza for months looking for a good chance to take him out, and you lot came along and helped me with my job." they bowed, "thank you."

Sasuke held Naruto back, and they let the Oi-nin pick up Zabuza's corpse and disappear with it. Sakura looked at their sensei, "is something wrong, Sensei?"

Kakashi pulled his Hitat-ate down over his Sharingan. "Hunters would never leave the place where the missing-nin died before disposing of the body. The fact that he took Zabuza's corpse is concerning. I suspect we aren't out of the woods yet keep on guard all of you-" he took several steps before collapsing onto the ground. His team ran over, and Sakura checked his pulse.

"It's ok he's breathing and still has a pulse he's probably just chakra exhausted. Sasuke-Kun, Naruto-Kun, can you carry him?"

The two boys nodded and picked up Kakashi as Tazuna came out from behind a tree. "You can all stay at my place and let him rest up. It's the least I can do for you."

The genin nodded and followed Tazuna to his house and thankfully ran into no issues. Once Kakashi was in bed, Naruto and several clones went to keep watch outside, and Tazuna was talking to his daughter in the kitchen. Sakura sat next to Sasuke as they looked at Kakashi, "pretty intense for our first C rank mission, huh?"

Sasuke nodded, "yeah, and it turns out our Sensei has my family's kekkei genkai in his left eye."

Sakura looked at Sasuke and his dark eyes, "so can you do that with your eye too?"

He shook his head, "mine hasn't awakened yet, but I'll have it in both eyes when they do. Kakashi-sensei definitely isn't part of my family, so I have to assume he got it hopefully because someone in the family gave it to him and not because he took it."

"Any ideas on who would have given him one of their eyes?"

Sasuke shook his head, "no. Before- before I lost my family, we weren't on the best terms with the village. I was only a little kid, but I could tell everyone was worried about the village, not liking them. I can't think of any relatives who would give up an eye to an outsider."

Sakura hesitated but eventually put a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright I'm sure once Kakashi-sensei is up he'll explain everything to you."

"Thanks, Sakura, and uh good throw earlier, you've gotten a lot better."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well, with you and Naruto as my teammates, I've got to keep on top of my game, or else you'll probably leave me behind."

Sasuke grunted and awkwardly patted her shoulder "I'm sure you'll be great... uh, just keep it up."

She sighed and shook her head, "I know." She stood up and said, "I'm gonna go check on Tazuna to see if he or his daughter needs anything."

Sasuke nodded, "I'll keep an eye on our sensei."

Sakura went downstairs to find the two sitting in the kitchen. She bowed, "thank you again for letting us stay here, Tsunami-san. Is there anything you need help with?"

Tsunami was about to dismiss the idea, but she stopped "Hm actually I haven't been able to go recently due to Gato, and now these shinobi it might not be safe. There are herbs out in the woods I usually collect and sell. Would you be able to go out tomorrow and collect some for me? I'll show you what they look like before you go."

Sakura nodded, "I'd be glad to. What are the herbs for?"

"Mainly medicinal most everyone in the village knows how to use them, but no one wants to go wandering into the woods to find them."

Sakura looked over the herbs with Tsunami and asked questions about what they helped with and how to apply them. A few hours later, she decided she needed fresh air and made sure Naruto wasn't slacking off and was actually keeping watch. She found him on the roof, sitting facing the woods. On her climb up, she saw several in pair's near the docks. "Yo, Naruto, how goes lookout?"

Naruto jumped before seeing who it was and rubbed the back of his head "o-oh, hey Sakura-chan, it's all quiet I have clones walking around nearby."

She nodded as she sat, "you know you don't have to say chan. We're all friends, right?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically, "yeah yeah, we are! I just uh didn't wanna be rude ya know. Most people don't like me."

Sakura smiled, "yeah, but you know everyone from our class cares about you, right? You may be loud, obnoxious, and kind of annoying at times, but I don't think any of us would want you to be any different."

Naruto grinned and blushed hard. "Y-yeah, thanks, Sakura-ch I mean Sakura-" Naruto's head snapped over to the woods "two of my clones got dispelled."

"How can you tell?" The two got to their feet as they scanned the woods.

Naruto put a hand on his chin "Hmm, it's hard to explain. I'm not a sensor, but when I make a clone, I can kinda tell where he is compared to me."

"Do you get anything else from them?"

He shrugged, "I don't know I can tell where they are and when they get dispelled."

He crossed his fingers and made two more clones and sent them to check it out. They came back a few minutes later, grumbling to each other, "just a boar boss those two were idiots."

The other punched the first, "Oi don't call them idiots idiot they're the same as us."

Naruto dispelled them as one was about to punch the other "Sometimes I end up fighting with myself, so I just get rid of them before they can start arguing."

Sakura laughed, "They do say you are your own worst enemy."

The next day Kakashi woke up feeling like he had been thrown into a tree several times. He looked around the unfamiliar room and spotted one of his genin sitting against the wall slumped over asleep. Sasuke stirred as Kakashi tried to sit up. "Best to stay in bed, Sensei, you've got chakra exhaustion, and besides, you have some explaining to do."

Kakashi settled into his futon and grunted, "alright. What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

Kakashi nodded and started to tell him about his mission and how he gained his Sharingan. Meanwhile, Sakura and Naruto headed into the woods to look for herbs "alright, Naruto, you head that way, and I'll check over here. You remember what it looks like, right?"

He nodded, "yep, I know what to look for, we'll meet up here once we've filled these baskets."

The two went separate ways from there and began looking. After some time, Naruto laid down; he had filled his basket, but it was a lovely day, so why should he go back right away. Instead, he'd just lay in the sun for a minute and soak up the warmth. He fell asleep quickly in the sunlight with a peaceful look on his face.

Sakura stood at the meeting point, tapping her foot, looking around, "where the hell is that boy. I swear if he's gotten distracted by something, I'm gonna punch him."

She marched off into the direction Naruto had gone. She found him a few minutes later and stopped hiding behind a tree. He was there with someone, and if they weren't friendly, she didn't want to stumble into a fight. She glanced at the stranger. They were pretty with long dark hair and brown eyes. Naruto seemed to be talking rather excitedly to them. Sakura scoffed a bit as Naruto said they looked prettier than Sakura. Once the stranger bowed and left, Sakura slipped into the clearing "Naruto there you are. Who was that?"

Naruto grinned and started to tell Sakura about the stranger he met on their way back to the house. He scrambled when Sakura pressed him on, saying that guy was prettier than her. Once they were back and Tsunami had the herbs, they went upstairs and found Kakashi and Sasuke finishing a conversation. Naruto ran over and hugged Kakashi. "Oh, you're alive and awake now, Senpai I was so worried!"

Kakashi grunted, and Sakura pulled Naruto off "come on, give our Sensei some space he's still recovering."

The three genin sat and updated Kakashi on what he missed while he was out, which wasn't much of anything. He sighed, "You lot disobeyed my orders to run. I should be mad, but I'm proud of you all for your diligence. Keep it up while I get back to full strength."

"Yes, sensei!" they all choired.

"Alright, until I'm back up and combat-ready, I want rotating guards on Tazuna. Two of you will stay with him while he's at the bridge working, and the last will stay here, and I'll run you through some kind of training to make sure we're all ready for whatever is probably coming."

With their new orders, Team Seven set up their rotation, sending Naruto and Sasuke out to watch over Tazuna first. Sakura sighed, "So let me guess, Sensei, I need to work on taijutsu?"

Kakashi shook his head, "no point in doing that right now, I don't need you physically exhausted while on a mission. I want you to do chakra control practices for now."

Sakura nodded and went outside to grab some leaves to use for practice. The days rolled by at some point, Naruto had gotten into an argument with Inari Tsunami's son about whether or not it was worth it to fight against a force you knew you couldn't beat. Kakashi had instructed Sakura and Sasuke to stay out of it and let Naruto figure out how to get his point across so the kid would understand.

Once Kakashi was back on his feet and mostly recovered, the whole team went with Tazuna to keep him safe. That's when they came upon the scene of Zabuza standing amongst the unconscious bridge workers. "Look who's finally here. I was getting bored. I thought I might have to start killing these civilians to entertain myself till you get here."

Sakura and the others immediately went into formation around Tazuna as Kakashi cursed and pulled out a kunai. "I'll keep him busy. Sasuke Naruto, you two grab the civilians and get them off the bridge, and Sakura keep Tazuna safe."

"Yes, Sensei!" the three shouted as he took off to engage Zabuza. Naruto crossed his fingers and made four shadow clones to help them move the people to safety. Sakura fidgeted as the mist started to roll in. She felt useless just standing here while the other three did something, but she knew keeping the client safe was a priority.

As Kakashi and Zabuza clashed, Sasuke saw a third figure enter the mist and run toward Naruto, dispelling his clones. "Naruto enemy at twelve o'clock in the mist!"

Naruto looked up in time to see the Oi-nin that had taken Zabuza away burst out of the mist senbon in hand, ready to throw. Sasuke threw a brace of shuriken, which the Oi-nin dodge easily and threw their senbon in retaliation. Sasuke pursued him with a kunai at the ready as Naruto grabbed the last civilian and ran to get them to safety.

Kakashi looked over his shoulder. "So I was right that Oi-nin is a fake. He works with you? Bails you out when you get in over your head?"

Zabuza growled and swung Kubikiribōchō in a wide arc "Haku is just a tool for me to use as I see fit. He's quite proficient at his job, so I keep him around." He looked over to the Oi-nin fake and shouted, "Haku kill those kids! And make it quick!"

Haku nodded as he held Sasuke back, "Yes, Zabuza-san!" He delivered a quick kick to Sasuke's stomach that sent him skidding back, giving Haku enough time to run through hand seals and shout "Sensatsu Suishō!"

The puddles of water on the bridge rose into the air and formed shards of ice that shot towards Sasuke, one of which caught the genin in the leg, leaving a shallow gash across his thigh. Kakashi looked surprised by the jutsu before he had to refocus on Zabuza. "He's got a Kekkei Genkai!" Kakashi shouted as he deflected Zabuza's sword again.

Sasuke wasn't given any time to recover as Haku threw several volleys of senbon. Sasuke tried to deflect them all but several embedded in his shoulder, and he cursed, feeling his arm go limp.

Sasuke felt a little relief as Naruto ran up next to him, "what happened to your arm?!"

Sasuke grunted as he pulled the senbon out of his arm "he's got good aim. I don't think I'll be able to use my arm for a bit even after taking these out. Think you can take some of the pressure of this fight Dead Last?"

Naruto cracked his knuckles "I can take this guy on with no problem just you watch."

He crossed his fingers, and four clones exploded into existence he rushed Haku. At the same time, Sasuke pulled the last of the senbon out of his arm and felt the pinpricks of sensation starting to come back though he knew it wouldn't be usable in a fight until later. He pulled out some shuriken and relegated himself to long-range.

The Naruto gang was struggling to survive very long against Haku and his senbon. Haku dispersed the clones and dodged Sasuke's shurikens, sometimes using a Naruto clone as a human shield. Eventually, he grabbed the real Naruto and threw him hard into Sasuke. As the two tried to untangle themselves, Haku spoke, "Makyō Hyōshō!"

Mirrors of ice quickly formed around the two, while Haku melted into the first one to form. He appeared in each one as they finished being created. "You two can't win if you stop struggling, you won't have to die. I promise."

Naruto gritted his teeth "like hell we will! We have a mission to protect Tazuna-san so he can finish this bridge. We won't let anyone stop us! Right, Sasuke?!"

Sasuke nodded flexing his left arm "What Dead Last said. We have a mission, and we intend to complete it."

Haku seemed to deflate a little "That's a shame. That means I'll have to carry out my mission then."

Naruto and Sasuke flinched, covering their eyes as the mirrors became blinding to look at. They nearly screamed as the senbon started flying from all directions, neither of them could dodge that many at once. Even as the light faded, Haku was moving too fast for them to see much less counter. Naruto tried making clones and rushing the mirrors, but they were cut down before they could even get close.

Sakura barely had time to register Zabuza coming in for the kill behind her and Tazuna before Kakashi was already there attempting to deflect the swing. Though it wasn't good enough and the sword cut down his chest, leaving a nasty gash. Zabuza was forced back as Kakashi attempted to kick him in the chest. "Kakashi-sensei, are you ok?!" Sakura said, looking at his bleeding chest.

He grunted and straightened his posture. "I'll be fine; just make sure Tazuna-san is safe." Kakashi quickly disappeared into the mist to pursue Zabuza while pulling a small scroll from one of his Jonin vest pockets.

"Zabuza, why did you run? I heard about your attempted coup d'etat in Kirigakure. How your coconspirators bailed on you and left you to die. Did you run because you were scared of what they'd do to you for killing the Kage?"

Zabuza growled and ran in to attack with a wild swing leaving himself open. Kakashi took advantage of that planting two kunai into the missing-nins shoulder before quickly retreating and opening the scroll in his hand. At the same time, the other dragged along the edge of his wound, and he used chakra to gather enough blood onto his thumb. Kakashi spread the blood across the scroll before snapping it shut and slamming it into the ground "Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!"

The bridge rumbled around Zabuza's feet as half a dozen dogs burst from the ground and sunk their teeth into his legs and arms, immobilizing him. "You just stay put with my dogs for a moment."

Sasuke was tackled to the ground by Naruto, whose back was quickly filled with senbon. Naruto stumbled to the side, "Come on Sasuke, you're too slow."

Haku didn't give them a chance to recover before the next volley started, and Sasuke had to grab Naruto to pull him out of the way while catching some senbon into the back of his leg. "Gah Damn it, Naruto, don't pass out on me. We gotta figure out how to beat this asshole."

Naruto nodded slowly, "y-yeah, we're going to. Because I never go back on my word." Naruto stumbled a bit as he tried to make more clones, but Haku wasn't going to let him and released another volley of senbon. Sasuke swore and tried to grab Naruto, but the senbon was aimed at both of them, and he felt the needles entering into his left leg and arm, making him faceplant as Naruto took a few to his forearms.

Naruto fell over onto his back, panting softly as Sasuke struggled to stand up his head whipped to Naruto as several senbon shot from the top of the mirror dome and hit Naruto in the chest.

Sasuke felt the change in himself but didn't register what it meant right away until he saw Haku move and knew where he was going. Sasuke threw the last of his shuriken then saw his reflection in the mirror he was aiming at. Red eyes with two tomoe in his left eye and one in the right. He had awakened his Sharingan.

Haku was surprised by the shuriken but deflected most, but one got through and left a shallow cut in his arm.

As Hakur retreated into the mirror, Sasuke used his Sharingan to look at Naruto and saw a faint rise and fall of his chest. _'Good, the idiots still breathing.'_

He turned his attention back to the fight _'with this I can win. I can beat this asshole.'_

With Naruto effectively out of the fight, Haku turned all his attention onto Sasuke and his newly awakened Sharingan. "You know, Uchiha-san, we aren't very different. Both the owners of powerful Kekkei Genkai. both the last of our clans."

Sasuke growled as he pulled his last kunai out. "I'm not the last, at least not yet. I plan on living through this and killing the one who made it just him and I. I won't- I can't stop yet. I won't let you stop me."

"The path of vengeance is not an easy one to walk in Uchiha-san. I wonder if you can beat me, will you be able to follow the path to its end?"

Sasuke started making hand signs, "why don't we find out. Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

He placed a hand in front of his mouth as fire spat from it into a large ball that broke against the mirror Haku was currently in. The mirror barely cracked and was quickly repaired. "That level of Katon won't be enough Uchiha-san."

Sasuke did his best to deflect the senbon sent his way as Haku jumped to another mirror. With his Sharingan, he was able to effectively dodge or deflect more of them than before. The attacks were relentless and swift, leaving Sasuke barely any time to recover or take stock of his mounting minor injuries. For a moment, there was nothing, and Haku disappeared from the mirror before quickly returning. "It seems I can't just wear you down and take you out like Naruto-san."

Sasuke saw the senbon coming in two sets. He could doge one and not even go near the- Naruto was lying unconscious right in the path.

He twisted channeling chakra into his feet to grip the ground so he could change direction. Sasuke slid into place, looking down on his idiot teammate as the volley of senbon embedded themselves in his back, and at least one went into his neck. As he fell to his knee Naruto's eyes opened slowly and focused on him.

Naruto's breath caught seeing his teammate above him bleeding, "wh-what the hell happened, Sasuke?"

"Idiot, you fell asleep on the job an-and I had to protect your sorry ass. Now get up we-we got work to do-" Naruto barely caught Sasuke as he fell and laid him down. He couldn't see Sasuke's chest rise or fall with breathing.

His thoughts drifted to the boy he had met in the woods and their talk on precious people and true strength. Even with how annoying Sasuke was sometimes Naruto didn't hesitate to recognize everyone on his team as people precious to him, and now one of them was lying in front of him, not breathing.

"Kill him." A voice like gravel full of anger and spite spoke deep in his head. It was the last thing Naruto heard before everything went black.

Kakashi was panting as a little pug walked up "hey boss. You look terrible and might want to close that left eye of yours."

Kakashi waved him off, "Can't do it yet Pakkun. I just need to mold a bit of chakra and take Zabuza out for good."

The pug looked past him and sniffed "Hm might want to put a hold on that boss-"

Kakashi's head snapped over as the mist was blown away entirely, and he saw the red glow pouring from the ice mirror dome. _'Shit not good.'_


	4. Land of Waves Arc: Bad to Worse or Not

Haku stumbled out of his mirrors as they cracked and shattered from the sudden force of chakra "what is with Naruto-san. His chakra suddenly changed, and it's so much stronger than before."

Haku didn't get a chance to move back before Naruto was in his face, fist cocked pack ready to strike. Haku saw his eyes were a fierce red with vertical pupils, and the whisker marks on his face had flared out as the red chakra coiled and boiled just above his skin.

Naruto's fist flew forward faster than Haku could register his Oi-nin mask cracked and shattered as he went flying across the bridge. Kakashi watched the exchange with horror as Kyūbi's chakra spilled from his student.

He was going to have to use his Sharingan before it got too far. He stumbled as he tried to move towards Naruto, who was closing in on the limp form of Haku.

Naruto only saw red as he moved in to kill Haku, but he stopped seeing the remains of the mask and the face under it. His senses came flooding back as he stared at the pretty boy from the woods who had talked to him about where he thought true strength came from.

The urge to kill was shoved away as Naruto fought to reclaim his actions. Kakashi watched with relief as the red chakra of the Kyūbi faded, and Naruto stumbled back on his butt and stared at Haku.

Sakura saw the light show of chakra and Naruto fighting Haku, but didn't see Sasuke joining in, and Zabuza was still held down by the ninken that had burst from the ground. Kakashi was standing there talking to a pug he looked winded and like he was nearing collapse.

Tazuna grabbed her shoulder and pointed her towards where the ice mirrors used to be "I think I see your comrade over there."

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw him lying on the ground, not moving. She grabbed Tazuna's wrist and pulled him along "come on, I need to check on him and keep you safe."

Sakura stumbled to a halt at the sight of her teammate. She couldn't tell if he was breathing or not, and he had so many senbon in him. Sakura dropped to her knees and shook him as she tried to keep the panic from overwhelming her. "Sasuke, come on, get up. You gotta be ok. You have to be."

Zabuza threw the ninken off him, and they disappeared running out of the chakra Kakashi had given them. As the missing-nin retrieved his sword, Kakashi was there kunai ready, but the two shinobi didn't get a chance to fight as the sound of people approaching from the unfinished side of the bridge drew their attention.

Kakashi cursed, as a short man in a business suit, walked up with at least twenty men at his back. _'This mission just keeps getting worse. I don't think I can take them all and Zabuza'_

"Gato," Zabuza spat, "What the hell are you doing here? I'm in the middle of working."

The short man laughed, "Ha! Not anymore. I would have waited longer, but I don't have the time, and you look tired enough, so I'm just gonna have you and those other shinobi killed now. Then I'll make an example of Tazuna."

He stepped forward and saw Haku on the ground passed out. Gato grinned and stepped on Haku's face "Oh, it looks like there's one less bit of trash to deal with." Gato stepped past Haku, and his men followed.

Naruto gritted his teeth but fell over, trying to get up as a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over him. Gato's men screamed as sudden spikes of ice shot out from the middle of the group. Haku stumbled to his feet after impaling several with his ice. Zabuza laughed and looked at Kakashi "let me get my sword. I don't have to fill my contract anymore, so I'm gonna kill that little prick."

Gato suddenly looked very worried. Kakashi simply walked over and picked up Naruto "go crazy." he took his student over to Sasuke, and his heart ached, seeing Sakura shaking, trying to pull the senbon out and apply bandaging to Sasuke.

Zabuza retrieved his sword and cleaved Gato in half with one swing before he and Haku turned on the rest of his men. Haku showed some restraint in letting them die painlessly.

Zabuza, on the other hand, lived up to his nickname and looked like a demon on a rampage as he tore through men left and right. Meanwhile, Kakashi had laid Naruto down and was helping Sakura patch Sasuke up. His breathing had started to be noticeable when they pulled the senbon out of his neck, so Kakashi figured the kid wouldn't die right away.

Once it was all said and done, a very confused Inari showed up with the townspeople, all ready for a fight that was already over. Sasuke had come around and was trying not to gape at the carnage as Zabuza and Haku walked up still a fair distance away but close enough to talk.

"So, since your employer fired you, what are you going to do now?" Kakashi asked.

Zabuza grinned his bandaging haven come udon during the fight "why don't we continue where we left off Kakashi?"

Haku gently placed a hand on Zabuza's shoulder. "Zabuza-san, I think we've all fought enough for today."

Zabuza jerked his shoulder away but didn't continue to try and fight. "We need to get moving; there's work to be done elsewhere."

"And where is that? I wanna know the places to avoid taking my team for a while."

Haku smiled "It seems that Zabuza-san's attempted rebellion sparked a larger one though he won't admit it. I think he is eager to join them and return home."

Kakashi didn't react; he just nodded and looked over at Zabuza, who was checking the corpses. Haku bowed to Team Seven. "I'm sorry we met the way we did, but I am glad none of you died. I hope we won't have to kill each other next time we meet."

The two missing-nin ran off without another word leaving a bruised and battered Team Seven to clean up. The days blurred together Kakashi was basically out due to almost exhausting himself. Sasuke was healing from all his injuries but could still keep watch, and strangely enough, Naruto was unscathed.

Kakashi was quick to change the subject and go off on a tangent. Though Sakura didn't show it, she felt supremely useless during this mission. They went up against high-level enemies, and what did she do? Throw one Fuma shuriken and stand between the enemy and their drunk target. She clenched her fist and decided to train harder than before and find something she can do to better help the team. She wouldn't freeze and panic the next time she saw a teammate hurt; she would know what to do.

It took another two weeks to finish the bridge, and once it was done, they stayed one extra night to celebrate with Tazuna and his family before saying goodbye. Naruto tried his best to look tough, but he cried while talking to Inari. Team Seven was the first to cross the Great Naruto Bridge from the Land of Waves to the Land of Fire.

As they walked, Kakashi handed Sakura a slip of paper "I put this list together while I was recovering. You have some of the best control I've seen in a while. There's a lot you can do with that, so this has few to look into to get you started when we get back."

Sakura took the list and smiled, "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei, I will make sure to get stronger and help the team."

Three days by shinobi speed later, they shuffled through the gates and up to the check-in desk. "Team Seven reporting back from our... C rank escort mission." Kakashi said as he handed over his ninja id.

Once everyone was checked in, Kakashi waved, "be sure to fill out your reports and turn them in today, we meet up at the training field tomorrow same time as always."

"Oh man, I'm gonna go get some Ramen before I do anything else!" Naruto shouted as he started to head towards Ichiraku's.

Sakura looked at Sasuke "wanna go with him? I could use something to eat, as well."

Sasuke seemed to debate the idea for a moment in his head, but he nodded, "Sure might as well."

They ran and caught up to Naruto, who was delighted his teammates were coming with him to eat the best food ever. As they ate, Konohamaru showed up and asked Naruto to play ninja with him and his friends. Naruto smiled and agreed, Sakura reminded him to write his report, and he decided to do it before spending time with Konohmaru.

As they finished eating, Sasuke stood "uh... thanks for lunch. I'll see you two tomorrow."

Naruto looked at Sakura surprised after Sasuke left, "did he actually thank us for time spent together?"

Sakura laughed as they walked with Konohamaru and his two friends. "Yes, I believe he did. Maybe we're getting through that shell of his. Who knows, maybe one day he'll even ask us if we want to do something with him."

"Onii-san stop standing around talking to your girlfriend, we won't have time to do anything otherwise."

"Wha- Konohamaru come on; it's not like that." Naruto tried to say.

"I don't know what you like about her anyways she's got that huge forehead-" Naruto clamped a hand over the younger boy's mouth looking mortified as he slowly turned to look at Sakura.

She took several deep breaths before looking at Naruto "take him and run if you want, it won't make a difference."

Naruto and co bolted as Sakura gave chase. "Way to go, Konohamaru, you had to go and mention the one thing she hates."

"What? It's not my fault she has a big-" Naruto smacked him upside the head.

"Quiet idiot, you don't want her madder."

Naruto pushed Konohmaru along, and the young boy rounded the corner while looking over his shoulder, so he didn't see who he bumped into.

By the time Sakura rounded the corner, Naruto was standing defensively between Mogi, Udon, and two strangers, one of which was holding up Konohamaru by his scarf. "Oi, you weird face paint guy put him down now!"

The guy in question looked at Naruto "the hell did you just call me? This little brat ran into me I think he deserves some kind of punishment for being rude and so do you ya orange freak."

The girl next to him rolled her eyes "Kankaro, do you really have time for this we need to get going."

"Yeah, I know it's not like we'll be late if I just take a minute to teach these stupid brats a lesson."

Sakura stepped up while steeling herself and mustering whatever courage she could. This guy was giving off a dangerous vibe, but maybe she could spook him.

"You really calling these two stupid? Do you even know who you're holding up? He's a member of the Sarutobi clan. You know the clan our current Hokage is part of. Though I guess since you're just sand ninja, we can forgive your ignorance on the topic."

Kankaro tightened his grip on Konohamaru's scarf, making the young boy squirm. "What did you bitch? Just sand ninja? The hell do you mean by that, huh? You want to get a beating that bad?"

Sakura bit her inner lip, trying not to shake. This guy was giving off a murderous vibe nothing like Zabuzas but still enough to set her on edge.

"You heard me. I have to assume you're genin like us, that means you're just sand ninja, and it would be a worse idea to hurt either of us", she motioned to Naruto and herself.

"Our sensei wouldn't take it well if his squad got attacked in our own village and who knows what Kakashi-sensei would do to you when he found you."

Sakura decided Tamari was the smarter of the two sand shinobi as she actually looked like she recognized their sensei's name. She went to grab Kankaro's shoulder as a rock flew and pelted his hand, making him drop Konohamaru, who quickly scrambled to behind Naruto.

Everyone looked up to see Sasuke sitting in a tree above them with a rock in his hand and violence in his eyes. "You really want to fuck with my teammates? Kakashi-sensei won't get a chance with you because I'll kill you first."

Naruto and Sakura gulped in unison at their teammates' bloodthirsty look. Kankaro was slinging something off his shoulder, an insult on his lips that died when a voice next to Sasuke spoke, "Kanakaro stop. You're an embarrassment; if you don't shape up, I'll have to kill you."

Sasuke looked surprised that someone had gotten right next to him. A boy in typical Suna clothes with a shock of red hair and a large gourd on his back standing upside down on a tree branch.

Sakura glanced at Kankaro and saw he was shaking slightly "Ah Gaara sorry about that we were just-"

Gaara seemed to dissolve into a small sand storm and reappear in front of Kankaro. "I don't care. We are going to be late."

"Wait!" Sakura kicked herself mentally. Why was she stopping them? "You need passports to be walking around Konoha like this, may I see them?"

Temari rolled her eyes but produced her pass, and Sakura nodded "Thank you. Why are you here, anyway?'

Temari spoke since it seemed like Gaara couldn't be bothered, and Kankaor was still shaking. "Chunin Exams are happening in a week we're participating. Can we go now?'

Sakura nodded and nearly collapsed onto the ground when they were gone. Sasuke patted her shoulder awkwardly "that was a stupid and risky thing to do, Sakura."

She nodded, "kept a fight from happening, so I'll call it a success."

Sakura had to explain the Chunin exams to Konohamaru and his friends. She was actually surprised Naruto knew what it was. After all the excitement was over, they all went their separate ways intending to ask their sensei about the chunin exams tomorrow.

On her way home, Sakura stopped at the shinobi general library, where she looked for the things her sensei had suggested. She hoped it was something actually available to a genin.

She found the books one on more advanced chakra control exercises, an introductory book on medical ninjutsu, one book that went into more detail about first aid that wasn't covered at the academy, and finally a scroll on manipulating hair with chakra. Once she had permission and signed them out in her name, she headed home to start going over the new material. Though if her parents were home, she probably won't have time to look over anything.

"Sakura? You're back?" She looked over to see Ino running up, smiling.

Sakura smiled, "yep, we got back earlier today. I just finished eating lunch with Sasuke and Naruto. I was gonna go home and look over this stuff you wanna walk with me?"

Ino grinned as they started to walk "Naruto and Sasuke, huh? So informal, what happened on that mission?"

Sakura groaned, "I'll tell you, but don't go blabbing it to everyone, ok. I haven't written my official report yet. That mission was supposed to be a C rank escort nothing more threatening than a hired thug was all we were expecting."

Concern immediately bloomed onto her friend's face "what happened?"

Sakura told Ino about her mission on the way home. She wrapped up her story with the depressing realization that while on paper, she was a good shinobi in real life, she had a lot of work to do before she could stand equal to her teammates.

"That's horrifying I'm glad you guys all came back alive. Though I am going to have to ask Naruto-kun about this Haku guy. He really told him he was prettier than you?"

Sakura nodded as she entered her house "He sounded so enthusiastic about it too. I don't know if I should be annoyed or not." She slipped her shoes off, "I'm home!"

When no one answered, Sakura glanced around the living room and saw a note in its usual spot that told her they were off on a mission and when they would be back. "Guess I'm home alone for a while."

Ino looked at the letter "well, not really. Because I'm staying over at least for tonight."

Sakura rolled her eyes at how her friend would just declare things instead of asking her. "Alright, but you have to help me cook dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow."

Ino laughed, "alright, fine, so you're gonna go over those books. I want to check them out as well."

Sakura sat on her couch after depositing the books on the coffee table, "alright. It'll probably make it easier with two of us looking at it."

The two kunoichis went over the medical stuff for a few hours before making dinner and talking about what Sakura missed while she was gone. They stayed up, and Ino lounged around while Sakura wrote up her report and made a mental note to stop by the mission desk before going to the training grounds. After some conniving, Sakura got Ino to agree to go to sleep at a reasonable hour, so neither would be late for training.

The next morning Sakura all but kicked Ino awake, and the two made breakfast. "I'll see you around. You want me to come over tonight as well?"

Sakura shrugged, "If you want, just don't use me as an excuse to ditch your clan responsibilities."

Ino feigned shock, "I would never use my best friend being all alone in her house as a reason to avoid going home and doing something terribly boring."

Sakura gave her a flat look "I'll see you around Ino."

"Bye-bye!"

The two went their separate ways. Sakura said hello to Iruka-sensei as she turned in her mission report and then headed to the training grounds to meet up with her team.

As she walked up and waved to the two boys, Sasuke said, "You're later than usual."

She shrugged, "I had to drop off my report, and Ino stayed over since my parents are off on a mission."

Sasuke made his signature hm sound. Naruto grinned. "You think if we ask Kakashi-sensei about the exams, he'll let us take them?"

"Do you think we're ready?" Sakura asked, sitting against one of the training posts.

Naruto shrugged, "I could so beat whatever they throw at me. Though I don't know about some of our team." he not so subtly looked at Sasuke, whose eyebrow twitched.

"Oh, you want to go Dead Last? Do I need to beat you in another sparring match to show you who's the best?"

Sakura sighed as the two made the seal of confrontation and started fighting. She pulled out her notes she wrote based on the intro to medical ninjutsu and the advanced first aid. She started doing her chakra control exercises while reading over the material, the sound of her teammates fighting in the background oddly relaxing.

Once the boys had fought to their satisfaction, they made the seal of reconciliation and started talking about the match. Sakura noticed that while he struggled to articulate things, Naruto actually understood more than someone might think just by hearing him speak.

She almost jumped out of her skin when Kakashi spoke from directly above her "Iruka-sensei would be so proud of you little genin you're actually civil with each other after a sparring match.

Once her shock was over, she looked up and glared, "how long have you been sitting above me, sensei?"

He just shrugged and made no move to leave his spot, so she got up and joined the others in front of him. "Oi Sensei, can we take the Chunin Exams? We met some rude Sunagakure shinobi, and we want to teach em a lesson!" Naruto said.

Kakashi sighed and shook his head. "You lot like getting into trouble, don't you? Well, I suppose you two feel the same as Naruto does about wanting to take them?"

Sasuke nodded immediately, and Sakura bit her cheek. She knows it won't be easy but... but she needed to do it. She needed to start pushing herself more, so she nodded an affirmative, "yes, Sensei."

Kakashi shrugged, "good to hear. We have a week to prepare, so here's how we'll be training till then. Naruto, and Sasuke, you'll spend a few hours working on your chakra control. Sakura taijutsu with me while they do that. After that, we'll run a scenario then break for lunch. After lunch, we'll check your affinities, and I'll find some jutsu for you, and we'll start training ninjutsu. Brush up on anything else you can think of on your own time. Understood?"

The three nodded, "Yes, Sensei!"

Kakashi made Sakura teach the chakra control exercise to the boys who started right away in their usual way by making it a competition. While they were doing that, Kakashi and Sakura sparred while he read his book, he commented on her form, speed, and power.

Sakura, feeling more agitated by the nonchalant way he critiqued her moves, may have infused a bit more chakra into her limbs than usual, and though her attack missed the dented tree at least startled Kakashi. She had to take a beak as the recoil from the punch had left splinters in her fist and forearm aching.

"Hm, that's a pretty hard punch. though if you can't dampen the recoil, it'll only cause you issues moving forward." Kakashi said, slipping his book into his pocket.

Sakura shook her arm in an attempt to shake the stinging pain away. "I don't think I would be able to figure it out and get good with it before the exams."

Kakashi nodded, "nope. Alrighty, that's enough lollygagging back to the sparring."


	5. Chunin Exams Arc: The Exams start

They checked their affinities, and unsurprisingly Sasuke had a Katon affinity while Naruto had a Futon and Sakura a Doton affinity. Kakashi gives them a handful of low-level jutsu to study and learn. The week of training goes by fast, and Sakura almost doesn't notice Ino spending most of the nights at her house where they talk about their preparation for the exams and theorize what they'll be like.

The night before the exams, Sakura put the last of the dishes away "alright, Ino, what's up with you staying here so much? This isn't the first time I've been home alone, you know I'll be fine, and besides, I know this had to be cutting into your clan training."

Ino shifted under Sakura's glare "what? No, it's not. I put in some extra time in the morning before team training to make up for any lost time here, and besides, I just wanted to hang out with you. You know the escort mission you took had you gone for a few months. I just wanted to spend time with my best friend before either of us went off on a long mission like that again."

Sakura rolled her eyes as her face softened. "You aren't getting all mushy on me, are you? We're shinobi now, you know we gotta be tough."

Ino laughed and bumped shoulders with her as they moved to the living room to go over the books again. "Come on, let's make sure we understand this nonsense, so we don't mess up in the field."

The next day Sakura met up with her teammates outside the academy where they would be dropping off their submission forms. She nodded to them, "ready to do this?"

Naruto grinned and cheered while Sasuke gave his usual confident nod. Sakura fell in line a step behind the two of them as they made their way inside. She noticed it right away when they had started pushing their way through the crowd to see what was going on. Someone had put an area of effect genjutsu upon this floor.

They stopped as some Konoha shinobi kicked another to the ground. Other than his bowl-cut hair, Sakura noticed that the fellow genin on the floor was wearing a green jumpsuit. He looked to be at least a year older than her team. Sasuke looked unimpressed, "seriously? Is this the best they can do to try and stop us from signing up?"

he pushed forwards as the genin at the door sneered at him. "Oh, you want to try your luck at getting past us?"

"Psh, why would we waste our time here? Come on, did no one else notice it? Sakura educate these idiots."

Sakura blinked _'is he trying to show off in front of the competition? Best go along with it.'_

She tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled "Of course. These two put a genjutsu on this floor. We're on the second, not the third. It was painfully obvious to see."

Naruto did his best job of not looking lost as the genjutsu was released. "Oh, so you saw through that, but let's see if you can handle this!"

He went in for a kick that Sasuke, of course, felt the need to match, but before either could connect, the guy from the floor was between them blocking both hits. "Please, there is no need for fighting at this time." Sasuke and the other genin retracted their legs and backed off.

"Lee, didn't you say you wanted to keep a low profile? What was that?"

Sakura looked as Lee's teammates approached, and she realized they were trying to make him out to be the leader of their group, but his teammate is a Hyuga. Sakura really doubted someone from that clan would fall in line with someone who looked like Lee. her attention came back to Lee as he stared at her "your name is Sakura-chan correct?"

She grimaced, "yes, it is, and you're Lee-Kun, I suppose."

He nodded and got far too close, "would you like to go out with me?!"

She took a step back and elbowed Naruto, who was trying not to laugh. "I'll make this as clear as can be... No, and don't ask again. I hate it when people don't get it the first time."

She felt kind of bad at how crestfallen he seemed, but he quickly looked at Sasuke, "You're the Uchiha that I've heard about."

It was Sasuke's turn to take a step back, "you're not going to ask me out as well are you?"

The girl standing behind Lee tried to cover her laugh as the Huyga smirked. Lee shook his head "No, I wish to fight you."

Sakura grinned. "Oh, you think you can take on an Uchiha. Fine by me, then let's fight."

The girl behind Lee and Sakura both rolled their eyes at the same time. The girl patted Lee's shoulder "Don't be late to sign up Neji and I are gonna go on ahead."

Lee nodded, "Thank you, Tenten. I will not be late." he turned back to Sasuke, "lead the way to wherever you wish to fight."

Sakura and Naruto followed Lee and Sasuke to one of the enclosed sparring rooms. As the two fighters went to the ground floor, Sakura and Naruto leaned on the railing, "Do you think Sasuke can win?"

Naruto nodded with his usual grin plastered on his face "of course, he's our teammate. Don't tell him I said this, but he is strong."

The fight did not go like they thought it would. Sasuke would see an attack and guard against it only to be hit anyways. Every time he went in for a punch or kick, Lee wouldn't be there anymore, and he would send Sasuke flying. Even when Sasuke activated his Sharingan, he couldn't match Lee's speed and strength. Sasuke was painting now bleeding from a split lip "what the hell are you using? This has to be some kind of Ninjutsu or Genjutsu involved."

Sakura's brow furrowed; she didn't see anything that would reveal a genjutsu, but it could always be something affecting only Sasuke. She didn't think it was a form of Ninjutsu since there was no way a genin could perform something with these effects without using hand signs.

"It is nothing but Taijutsu. I cannot perform the other two. I have worked every day for my whole life to show that hard work overcomes the natural-born genesis like you. Now, will you yield, or will you continue to try and prove yourself?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and charged in. Neither Naruto nor Sakura is sure how Sasuke ended up in the air with Lee below him. Before anything else could happen, Lee was yanked by his arm wrappings out the air, and Sasuke hit the ground with an unceremonious thud.

Sakura ran over to check on him while Naruto stared at who had interrupted their fight. Lee was getting chewed out by a turtle while Sakura pulled out some supplies and cleaned Sasuke's cut lip, "You got beat."

He winced as she dabbed at the cut, "It won't happen again."

Lee turned to face them. "Sasuke-Kun, you have a lot to improve on, but I'm sure with enough hard work, you can make it, and when you do, I look forward to fighting you again."

Sasuke just grunted as Lee bowed and left. Naruto looked back at them "you guys saw the turtle, right?"

Sakura helped Sasuke up and said, "Yes, we did now we're gonna be late if we don't hurry."

The team hurried back up to the third floor and found the correct room as they approached Kakashi appeared and smiled, "alright, you three you ready to do this?"

They all nodded an affirmative "good there's gonna be a lot of tough competition most of these genin have years more experience in the field than you, but I wouldn't have recommended you for this if I didn't think you stood a chance at this, so do your best and try not to die."

With that said, he vanished, and they stepped into the room. Sakura almost tripped when she saw the number of people glaring at them as they walked in. All of them looked older than her and her fellow rookie genin, who were making their way over to them.

"Wow, I can't believe Team Seven actually got recommended for this. Are you sure you're ready for something so challenging, Sasuke?" Kiba asked, grinning with more smugness than he deserved.

Sasuke grinned "This is going to be easy. I'm more worried about you slowing your team down, mutt."

Sakura ignored them as they started their boasting match, and Hinata failed to reign in her teammate. Shino didn't help much as he was distracted, keeping a beetle from being stomped on.

Ino bumped shoulders with Sakura, "you nervous?"

Sakura sighed, "unbelievably so, but I've got good teammates, so I'm sure we'll be fine. What about you?'

Ino sighed and looked at her teammates. "Choji is stress eating, so he goes through twice the amount of food now. I think last night we used up Asuma-sensei's paycheck for the next two weeks. Shikamaru hasn't taken this seriously at all. I honestly think he's trained less since hearing about us entering this, so I'll just have to carry my team to victory." Ino finished her rant by flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Sakura laughed "I'm sure you will. Good luck."

Ino nodded and returned the statement as a leaf shinobi approached "hey rookie nine, you might want to tone it down. You're drawing some unwanted attention."

The nine looked at the newcomer, and Kiba spoke first, "oh, and who the hell are you to tell us that?"

The stranger held his hands up in surrender before adjusting his glasses "I'm just a fellow genin. I've taken this test a few times with my team, but sadly as you can see, we haven't been able to pass yet. My name's Kabuto, and I've got some information I'm willing to share with a fellow Konoha shinobi if you keep quiet."

They all looked at each other, and Sasuke spoke first, "alright, why don't you show us what you have then."

"Of course." Kabuto went about revealing which villages sent shinobi and how many teams were sent along with the general level of these teams. Sasuke had him go into more detail about a few specific people like Lee and Gaara. While they were talking, Sakura let her eyes wander over the crowd most weren't obviously listening in, but she was sure everyone was trying to learn something. She looked at a shinobi from Otogakure and blinked to see he had disappeared.

The sound shinobi appeared in front of Kabuto, who had just mentioned their village. "So you think you can underestimate us? Why don't I teach you why that can be fatal!"

He threw an impressive right hook, but Kabuto dodged it easily; at least that's what they all thought until his glasses shattered and he fell to the ground vomiting. Naruto and Sakura went over to check on him while Sasuke and Kiba reached for their kunai pouches, and the rest of the rookies shifted in case a fight broke out.

An explosion of smoke at the front of the classroom caught everyone's attention as several people appeared. The man in front decked out in a black trench coat, gloves and a bandana with his hitai-ate on it spoke "Alright genin calm down and listen up. I am Ibiki Morino. I'll be your proctor for the first stage of the Chunin Exams. Form a line and turn in your application once it's turned in; you'll get a number and sit in the corresponding seat, and then we'll get started!"

It took several minutes, but once they were seated, Sakura glanced around and noticed that no one was sitting by their teammates. In fact, they were all spread out reasonably well.

Ibiki started to explain the test while the chunin with him passed out a test for everyone and then took their seats. The whole time Sakura stared at Naruto, knowing he was going to struggle with this and that with their positions, she was in the best spot to help him.

As the test started, she looked over the questions before trying to answer any. The tenth was something that would be given after some time had passed. The available ones were hard to put lightly; she knew she could get them answered, but it confirmed Naruto probably wouldn't be able to answer any, especially with how the questions were written.

She bit her lip and glanced around, making sure the chunin wasn't looking directly at her as she pulled out a slip of paper used for messenger hawks out of her sleeve along with a small pencil.

She settled into a position that kept her cheat sheet covered and started to answer questions while copying down the answer with her other hand. Once she had about seven problems answered, she felt the chakra enter her system, and she blacked out for only a few seconds. As she came back, Sakura looked over her test and cheat sheet she was making, where she found the note she knew would be left behind. 'Thanks for the answers, bestie.'

Sakura rolled her eyes and erased it before folding the paper and slipping it into her sleeve. She took several deep breaths and started to put her control exercises to use by having the paper stick to herself and slide along her body down to her foot. Sakura prayed she would be able to throw it right like this and with a swift movement of her foot sent the paper flying along the ground where it floated up and stuck into Naruto's shoe by his ankle _'come on idiot notice it.'_

Sakura sighed in relief as Naruto reached down and scratched his ankle. He paused for a second and glanced around, looking for who put the paper in his shoe before as subtly as he could manage to pull the paper up and look at it.

Once forty-five minutes passed, Ibiki started going over the tenth question, and Sakura's stomach dropped _'Naruto would never chicken out, but if we don't get this, then we won't ever be able to do the Exams again.'_

People started dropping out one after the other, and by the time it had stopped, almost half the room was empty. Sakura nearly choked as Naruto raised his hand only to slam it down and proudly declare he wouldn't back down for anything. Ibiki smiled, "congratulations, you've all passed the tenth question."

At that moment, the window shattered, and a tarp was secured to the ceiling by two kunai thrown by the woman who landed in front of it. Sakura noted her outfit consisted of a jacket, boots, a short skirt, and the typical mesh under armor that almost all shinobi wore.

The woman grinned. "Hello everybody, I'm Anko Mitarashi, and I'll be the proctor for the second stage!" she looked around the room and laughed as Ibiki stepped out from behind the tarp "why so many left Ibiki? Are you going soft on me?"

Ibiki sighed as the genin starred on in shocked silence. "Anko, please. I didn't even get a chance to explain what I was testing for with this exam."

Anko shrugged, "If they passed but didn't figure out you were testing their ability to gather intel in a hostile environment, then maybe you need to rework your test." Anko turned her attention back to the genin who were recovering from her entrance. "Alright squirts. You lot go find your Jonin leader; they'll direct you to the next area."

She climbed onto the window seal and grinned. "I doubt it will happen, but let's pray at least half of you actually pass my test. We wouldn't want the third round to be over too quickly." She jumped from the window and skipped across the roofs.

As everyone filtered out, Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm so glad we made it out of that."

The other two nodded along, and Sasuke said, "How long did it take you two to figure out we needed to cheat?"

Sakura smiled "I didn't have to, I just answered the questions."

She grinned wider at their baffled looks. Naruto laughed, "of course we were supposed to cheat... I figured it out pretty quickly."

"You didn't realize it until I said something, didn't you Dead Last?" Sasuke said.

"Wha- No! I definitely figured it out before that!"

Sakura rubbed her face "I'm just glad you saw my note and took it."

Naruto stopped "oh, you sent that? I didn't use it."

His teammates stopped dead in their tracks, and Sakura groaned, "Naruto, did you answer any of the questions?"

He shook his head, "Nope, I thought the note was a trap, so I didn't use it and just waited for the last question."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other baffled, and Sasuke shook his head "Only Naruto could do that."

She nodded and started walking again, "come on, let's go find Sensei so he can tell us where to go."


	6. Chunin Exams Arc: Second Exam

All those who passed the first exam stood outside a fenced-off forest covered in warning signs of imminent death and injury if you should enter. Sakura bit her lip, looking as far into the darkness of the forest as she could.

Anko stepped up in front of the crowd "alright genin behind me is the Forest of Death. This is where my exam is set. I hope you all took your survival training seriously because you'll need it."

"Pfft, I'm not scared! This exam will be easy-" Naruto stopped as Sakura smacked him upside the head.

"Will you shut it, Naruto! You barely got past the first exam, and you know it."

Anko smiled and slipped her kunai back into her sleeve. She guessed she wouldn't need to scare the piss out of the blonde idiot before the exam started. "Alright, you lot, I've got consent forms for you to sign. Some of you will die, so I need your permission if you wish to continue the exams."

Nobody spoke out or ran for the hills, so Anko motioned, and the chunin nearby started passing out forms for everyone. "Alright brats, the area of the exam, is about ten kilometers from any of the entrances to the center where a tower is located." she pulled two scrolls from her jacket.

"These are heaven and earth scrolls; each team gets one or the other. Your mission is to get the missing scroll and make it to the tower in the center of the arena. You have five days to do this. Oh, and you aren't allowed to open the scrolls until you get to the tower."

"What happens if we open it before then?" Naruto asked.

Anko just shrugged, "who knows. Anyway, a full team of three must make it to the tower to be considered a pass, and you must all be alive and conscious. Now when your teams are ready, you'll head over to the covered stands to your left and trade in your team's forms for a scroll."

Team Seven wandered off to a nearby boulder and sat at the base, looking over the forms. "So, any ideas about what kind of strategy we should take?" Sakura asked while looking at the fairly standard.

Sasuke scratched his neck, "should we stay quiet and try to track a team down or just go in full force?"

Naruto grinned and pumped his fist. "Full force, of course, we'll take out anyone and everyone who crosses us!"

Sakura sighed, "Naruto, we can't handle taking on every other team one after another. I know Sasuke is skilled, and you have that seemingly bottomless chakra reserve, but even with those, we can't take everyone."

She saw them both looking at her "Wh-what?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke then back to her "You didn't mention anything about yourself. You've been working really hard on those jutsu and exercises Kakashi-sensei gave you. Heck, last time, we spared you to beat me."

Sakura sighed, "I beat you then because I said no shadow clones. If you had made even one or two, I probably wouldn't have won. Besides, I still have a lot of training to do before I feel like I'm near you guys."

Anko whistled, "alright, brats come get your scrolls and follow your chunin to the gate you'll be entering from."

Sakura got up, effectively stopping the conversation, and headed over with them shortly behind. They traded in their forms and got a heaven scroll. Sakura handed it to Naruto, "put it in your jacket."

"Why are we trusting Naruto with it?" Sasuke asked, looking as confused as Naruto.

"Because no one we know will suspect him, and if we start fighting, it'll be easier for Naruto to get lost in his clones and escape."

The boys nodded at that logic, and Naruto took the scroll, tucking it into an inside pocket. They followed their chunin to gate forty-four and psyched themselves up as the gate was unlocked. Once it was opened, they took off at a sprint boosting their speed with chakra. "Let's try to get some distance and lay low, " Sasuke said, leading the group into the forest's darkness.

After a few minutes, they found a divet near one of the massive tree roots and began to look around. Naruto was pacing in place and slowly driving Sakura crazy. "For the love of- Naruto stop moving so much."

"Ah, sorry I gotta pee. We haven't had a chance since before the first exam, so I" m really pushing how long I can hold it."

"Then go behind a bush nearby, but stay close."

Naruto nodded and ran off behind a nearby bush while Sasuke sighed, "that guy is an idiot sometimes."

Once Naruto returned, Sakura was about to tell him the importance of signaling his return when she noticed his kunai pouch was on the wrong leg. She smiled, putting her hands behind her back, and moved in close while signing to Sasuke' Fake'.

"Hey, Naruto, I just remembered something super embarrassing that happened to Iruka-sensei wanna hear it? Some dirt on him might get him off your case so much."

The fake Naruto smiled, "hell yeah, thanks so much."

She moved in and whispered, "You're a fake." She slammed her fist into his chest, sending him flying into a tree. Sasuke and Sakura both drew their kunai as the imposter got up and dispelled his henge returning to his original form of an Amegakure shinobi.

"Tsk damn it. Alright, then how about you two just hand over your scroll, and I'll return your friend to you alive." He said while drawing his own kunai.

Sasuke grinned "Fat chance how about we just take you out and take your scroll." He rushed the rain shinobi, who fell back and jumped up into the trees. While Sasuke pursued him from above, Sakura followed from below, looking for signs of his team or Naruto. As Sasuke let out a Katon above them, Sakura found Naruto tied up on the ground unguarded. She quickly undid his retrains.

"Come on, idiot, let's go help, Sasuke."

Naruto nodded, grabbing a kunai and following Sakura from a distance. She stopped seeing Sasuke kneeling down while the rain shinobi had a kunai pointed at his neck. She signaled for Naruto to circle around as she stepped out into sight.

"Hey, hold on! You don't need to hurt him. We work out a deal, ok."

The shinobi scoffed, "oh, now you want a deal? Alright, give me your scroll, I" ll let this one go, and maybe I'll tell you where the other one is if you beg!"

Sakura nodded. "Alright, let me just-" she threw her kunai as Naruto threw his from the side.

The rain shinobi jumped back and up high to avoid both. Sasuke grinned and grabbed Sakura's kunai out of the air while using his chakra to grab Narutos with his foot while rotating so that he could throw them one after the other. The first kunai missed, but the second sunk into his shoulder, and he fell to the ground.

They surrounded him quickly, and Sakura said, "surrender we don't want to kill you. We just want your scroll if it's what we need."

The rain shinobi gripped his shoulder "I don't have it. My teammates do, and they're not gonna give it to you."

Sasuke sighed and kicked him in the face, knocking him out. "Alright, let's just string this guy up in a net and use him as bait for his team. We'll take them out and check their scroll.

Sakura nodded and pulled a length of cord from her pouch. "Here, this should be enough to tie him up in a tree."

Naruto perked up as the wind changed direction and grabbed both his teammates suddenly, and shouted, "Get down!"

They dove into the bushes as a massive gust of wind cut through the trees, reducing them to splinters. Sakura tried not to look at the spot where the rain shinobi used to be as they hid.

Once the carnage had passed through several figures emerged from the source of the blast. It was the creepy looking grass shinobi who they saw skulking in the background since the first exam. The three of them split up while Team Seven fell back quietly, "We should run that was way too strong of a jutsu." Sakura said.

She felt like a coward, but she had never seen a justu that strong before, and it scared her to think about what else the caster could do.

Naruto didn't look happy about it but nodded, and Sasuke agreed, but before they could get far, the lead grass shinobi appeared in front of them. "No, I don't think you will be running anywhere."

Before they could move, the grass shinobi bit his thumb and ran through a series of seals quicker than even Kakashi could before slamming his hand on the ground "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A massive snake burst from the smoke and smacked Naruto into the forest and went after him. Sasuke and Sakura tried to go after him, but they froze in their places as a wave of killing intent that put Zabuza to shame rolled off the shinobi in front of them. Their heart rates spiked, and both felt like they could see and feel their deaths coming with no way to stop it.

Sakura fell to her knees, and eyes rolled back as she collapsed, and Sasuke lurched and fell to his knees as he vomited. The shinobi laughed, watching Sasuke try to get up before falling over. "So weak, and here I had high hopes for the last Uchiha."

The words struck Sasuke and centered him. He was able to shakily get to his feet, but his hand was fumbling, trying to pull out a kunai.

Meanwhile, Naruto had been swallowed by the giant snake that was now slithering around the woods. Naruto squirmed and struggled. He tried using a kunai, but it wouldn't cut. He gritted his teeth and crossed his fingers in the usual sign, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Narutos started popping into existence one after the other, quickly making the already cramped space even more restricted.

Sasuke was barely able to stand or hold his kunai while Sakura was starting to come around, but it didn't matter because the grass shinobi was closing the distance with their kunai ready to be thrown. As they threw the kunai, Sasuke stabbed himself in the thigh and grabbed Sakura while boosting himself with far too much chakra than safe to sprint as fast as he could away from the maniac.

With some distance and up in a tree, the two were able to recover their sanity, and Sakura quickly pulled out supplies to patch up Sasuke's leg as he took calming breaths.

"Wh-what the hell was that? That guy was..." Sakura couldn't finish her statement as a giant snake barreled toward them from the ground. Sakura jumped back as Sasuke jumped to get higher in the tree while the snake followed him. They both threw shuriken at its head before it could catch Sasuke, who landed and stumbled back with panic as the snake fell across the branches dead.

Before they had a chance to relax, the grass shinobi burst from the snake's corpse "Don't relax just yet kiddies. Prey needs to stay on edge while a predator is around!"

Their torso started elongating, and they twisted around the branch leading straight to Sasuke but stopped when winds ripped the bark of the branch. They looked up to see Naruto grinning, "Oi snake freak! You think you can tackle me with a giant sneak then go after my teammate. I don't think so!"

Sasuke shuddered, trying to shake his fear. "You idiot don't just give yourself away so easily. This guy is crazy. He will kill us if we're not careful!"

Naruto scoffed. "Ah shut it, Sasuke, I can take this weirdo on by myself. Come on, why don't you try a real challenge."

"You really are a huge idiot, you know that! He wants the scroll just toss it to him Naruto-"

"Hell no! I'm not giving this creep the scroll. If he wants it, he'll have to fight me for it."

The grass shinobi smiled, uncurling himself from the branch "That sounds like a good idea. I'll kill you first."

They pulled their sleeve up, revealing a summoning seal wrapped around their arm; they quickly summoned another snake that lurched toward Naruto. Smashing him through branches and higher into the canopy before its tongue swung and threw him down. Naruto bounced off a branch before being hit again into the trunk of a tree.

Naruto felt consciousness slipping from him, but a deep voice rumbled from deep inside him "Wake up! Kill him!"

Naruto felt a power surge through his system as he clung to the trunk; his eyes changed from blue to red, shocking everyone else as he growled and leaped for the grass shinobi. The snake rose to block him, but Naruto punched its face causing it to fall and disappear with a puff of smoke. The grass shinobi laughed as he danced around Naruto's chaotic swings that broke off the thickest of tree branches.

His hand lit up with purple flames. "I came looking for Sasuke, but you're quite interesting yourself. I wonder what your childhood was like!"

They deflected Naruto's punch and lifted his shirt as they stabbed their fingers into his stomach and threw him towards the ground. Naruto cried out in pain as his eyes changed back to blue. Sakura kicked off the tree and grabbed Naruto mid-fall. The two tumbled onto a branch, but she kept them secure with chakra. "Sasuke, move!"

Sasuke flinched, hearing Sakura yell. He had been stuck in fear of the maniac and Naruto's sudden murderous presence. He looked up to see his enemy running down the tree to him. Sasuke's Sharingan activated, and he fell back.

While Sasuke was dodging the grass nins attacks and spitting fire to keep him at bay. Sakura made sure Naruto was secure then ran up the tree to join the fight. She couldn't use doton up here so she'd have to rely on the little suiton she knew.

Sasuke fell back as Sakura landed behind the grass nin. She flew through the hand signs and shouted, "Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri!" She planted her foot, and a wave of water sharp as a knife cut through the bark and toward the shinobi. Sakura panicked as they dodged the attack and disappeared. "Sakura behind you!"

Sasuke's warning came too late as Sakura was knocked unconscious and thrown from the tree. Sasuke cursed and jumped after her but saw the enemy moving in to strike mid-air.

He aborted, catching her, and simply kicked her so she would land on a lower branch and hopefully stay there. Sasuke stuck to the tree trunk and ran back, pulling the fight away from his teammates as he prepared his next attempt to get rid of this freak.

Sasuke jumped from the trunk as the grass nin dove at him. He threw two braces of shuriken that flew wide around the trunk. He tugged on the ninja wire he had attached to them, and they circled back quickly, entangling his enemy and pinning him to the tree. Sasuke landed, and his hands flew through the signs "Die you fuck! Katon: Karyū Endan!"

A fire sparked on the wire in his mouth and grew, forming the mouth of a dragon that tore down the wire and engulfed the grass nin in the fire. He screamed and writhed as Sasuke released the wire and stumbled back his eyes, returning to their usual black. "Got-gotta check on the others-"

Sasuke nearly fell over as the grass nin's face appeared in front of him on an unnaturally long neck and he bit Sasuke's neck. As Sasuke dislodged himself, the shinobi laughed, "I hope you enjoy my gift Sasuke-san. If you ever want to thank me, remember Orochimaru is my name, and I hope to enjoy your progress."

Sasuke writhed on the ground; it felt like fire was coursing through his veins, and a coil was being pulled taught around his neck. Sasuke blacked out shortly after.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but Sakura slowly came back around and groaned, rubbing her head. Her whole body was throbbing and aching as she stumbled to her feet and looked around. She saw Naruto a few feet above her and Sasuke even higher than that. Sakura took a deep breath and checked her chakra reserves. She was gonna be pushing it if she used anything unnecessary.

After a few deep breaths, she used tree walking to get up to Sasuke first. Once there, she used some rope in her pouch to lower Sasuke down to Naruto then slid down the rope to them. Her body ached, and she desperately wanted to stop and drop, but she couldn't because her teammates needed help. "Just get them safe, take a breath, and keep going."

It took almost an hour and a half to get them to the ground. Sakura's arms were burning with the strain as she lowered herself to the ground and dragged them one after the other to a spot under the roots of a tree. There was a sizable clearing in front of them for her to see anyone approaching. "Alright, they're on the ground."

Her head started to droop, and she nearly fell asleep. Sakura shook her head "No! Stay awake ok. You need to secure the area."

Sakura stumbled around, setting what traps she could while using almost all their supplies. She made sure to leave both the boys with a handful of shuriken and a kunai if they woke up. Once everything as good as she could get it, she made her way back to the other two and started to look after them.

Sasuke had a raging fever and several bruises and cuts from the fight. The strange mark on his neck was also below the collar by what looked like a snake bite. On the other hand, Naruto seemed to look fine physically, but he wouldn't wake up. Whatever that snake person had done to him, it knocked him out hard.

Sakura hesitated before lifting his shirt to show his stomach. The markings she saw earlier weren't there now. Unwilling to try and pry farther, she simply sat herself down and looked out into the woods trying to stay awake.

At some point, she had to throw a kunai to keep a squirrel with an explosive tag from getting close. She almost didn't see the tag, that was colored the same shade as the squirrel's fur. "Come on, Sakura, keep it together; no one's going to find you. That was probably just a fluke from a different fight..."

She had almost nodded off when a voice from the clearing laughed "asleep on the job little kunoichi? That'll get you killed during something like this."

Her head snapped up to see the three sound shinobi standing there, "shit."

"That's an appropriate statement for your situation. Why don't you hand over Sasuke so we can fight him." the middle one who was hunched over covered in bandages held out his hand as he spoke. "We won't kill you or blondie if you just cooperate."

Sakura stumbled to her feet and pulled out one of her two kunai left and stood ready. "I'm not handing over a teammate. No matter what you threaten."

"Come on, Dosu, just kill this bitch and let me fight Sasuke. I wanna see if he's all he's hyped up to be."

"Fine Zaku, I'll let you have a go at him first." they started to advance before stopping just as quickly. Dosu crouched. "Oh, look at this. This trap is almost well done too bad this kind of grass wouldn't grow here. You really should know this stuff before you go making traps, little girl."

They jumped over it, and Sakura smiled as they fell for the faint she cut two strings next to her, sending a massive log swinging towards the mand shuriken from either side. Dosu looked surprised but obliterated the log with his right arm while Zaku held his hands out and blasted the shuriken away with a blast of sound and air.

When they landed, the ground quickly gave, and they were forced back before they fell into the pitfall. "Oh, looks like the little girl does know how to set up some traps, but it'll take more than that to trip us up."

Sakura cursed; she only had a few more tricks before they would be actually engaging in combat. She took one last look over her shoulder at her teammates before adjusting her grip and running in. Zaku scoffed, "Kin, why don't you take care of her."

Kin grinned "with pleasure."

Sakura moved to the right as Kin disappeared. She kept her eyes on the others who were just standing there. Sakura activated one of the traps, sending explosive kunai at Zaku and Dosu. Zaku moved to divert them up into the air while Kin appeared and grabbed Sakura by her hair. "Oh, this is so soft. You must put a lot of time into caring for it. Maybe you should have used that time to train more so you wouldn't be so weak."

Sakura smiled. "Thanks for the advice, but I figured that out a while ago, and are you sure my hair is soft?"

Sakura's hair suddenly wrapped around Kin's wrist while the last of it struck towards her stabbing into her shoulder, arm, and neck. Kin struggled to get away while her blood soaked into Sakura's hair. She stood up and released the sound shinobi before turning and kicking her into a tree where she slumped over, trying to put pressure on the cut in her neck.

Sakura staggered, feeling light-headed from using her already low supply of chakra. "Come on, assholes... who-who's next."

Zaku grinned. "This one has some fight." he stepped forward toward her. Sakura smiled and threw a kunai a foot in front of him. "Wow, what was that-" he stopped as light poured from the ground "Shit flash tags!"

He and Dosu attempted to cover their eyes, giving Sakura time to run around to the other side and slice the threads she had placed along her path. With each snap, an explosive kunai flew and landed near them. The last one landed in a pile to the left of the sound shinobi, causing a chain reaction. Sakura reinforced her body with chakra as she was thrown in the opposite direction from Zaku and Dosu. The two sound shinobi landed near their bleeding teammate covered in burns and cuts.

Sakura stumbled over, feeling exhausted. She hoped they were down for the count and that she could tie them up and try to move Sasuke and Naruto.

Her luck wasn't good enough as Zakus hand suddenly raised, and he blasted her into a tree with his gauntlet. "Y-you damn bitch! That hurt!"

The sound shinobi stood. Zaku and Dosu staggering to their feet while Kin applied bandages to try and stop herself bleeding out. Sakura groaned, her body felt like lead, and she struggled to get her breathing back right. She knew she was done for, but she couldn't stop now, not when her teammates were still in danger. She would have jumped if she had the energy to as her vision suddenly filled with a green jumpsuit as Lee landed in front of her. "Are you alright, Sakura-chan? I heard an explosion and came to see what was happening."

"I'm fine, Lee I made the explosion I thought it would be enough, but these guys are tough. I-I could use some help if you don't mind."

Lee pumped his fist. "Yes, despite your rejection of my love, I will help you with all my heart!"

Sakura sighed inwardly but tried her best to smile, "y-yeah, thanks, Lee."

Dosu cocked his head "who's this freak? Another Leaf brat comes to die? Fine, then I'll take you down."

Dosu pulled his sleeve up, revealing his gauntlet and ran at Lee. while they were fighting, Sakura tried to limp back to Sasuke and Naruto but stumbled as Zaku charged at her. Lee intercepted him with a kick that sent the sound shinobi flying back. Dosu used the opening and swung at Lee missing by a few inches, but it didn't matter as Lee suddenly staggered and fell to his knees as his ear bled. Dosu laughed "You're a fast one, but it doesn't matter if you can't move faster than sound. You lost this one you bowl cut freak!"

Lee tried to get up, but he stumbled and took a direct hit from Dosu's gauntlet that sent him to the ground where he didn't get back up. Zaku, who was holding his right shoulder, kicked Lee while he was down. "Look at this asshole. He came in like a big guy, but he dropped easy-"

"Don't you attack one of my comrades!" Sakura tackled Zaku, stabbing his hand and shoulder together while sinking her teeth into his left forearm.

"Ah, you bitch! Let go of me!" Zaku screamed as he tried to get her off him. "Dosu, Kin, get her off me now!"

Sakura almost blacked out as Dosu's gauntlet collided with the side of her head, sending her flying landing off to the side. She panted and tried to stand, but a hand gently pushed her back down she looked up to see Ino smiling "You look terrible Sakura. Why don't you just sit there and wait for us to handle it?"

She smiled, seeing her friend and simply laid her head in the dirt' Y-yeah I think I soften them up enough for you."

Sakura wasn't sure what Ino and her team did or when Lee's team showed up, but she was glad that no one was dead, and she had protected her teammates. She was propped up against a log near Sasuke and Naruto. Ino and her team were on lookout duty while Lee's teammates showed up and took him away without a word. She looked over as Sasuke started to get up she flinched trying to move "ah Sasuke stay down-" her words died in her throat when she saw him.

Black markings crept over his skin. He looked at her with a blank look, "who did that to you, Sakura?"

She shook from the vibe he was giving off "Those sound shinobi from the first exam came looking for a fight I stalled, then Lee tried to save me he got beaten by them, then his team and Ino's team saved us." she looked around to make sure no one was looking or coming this way. "I also stole this from one of them." She showed the earth scroll she took off Zaku back when they were on the ground together.

Sasuke looked at her confused, then smiled and nearly doubled over laughing as the marks retreated to that spot on his neck. Sakura frowned, "I don't see what's so funny, Sasuke."

He grunted and sat down "compared to how much you did in the Land of Waves. I think today proves how seriously you took, wanting to get better seriously. I'm sorry, Naruto, and I were out of it, and you had to do that on your own."

Sakura shook her head "No, it's fine. I-I think I needed this fight. Something to push me when I'm weak."

Ino, Shikimau, and Choji came back. Ino grinned. "Oh, Sasuke, you're finally awake. I have a bone to pick with you, sir."

Sasuke went from annoyed to confuse as far as he knew Ino was one of the annoying fangirls he had. "Uh, what?"

She poked his chest, making him flinch, "You left my best friend to keep you and that blonde idiot safe. You should be ashamed of yourself leaving your teammate in such a bad spot."

Sakura tried to pull Ino back, but her muscles felt like jelly, and Sasuke lowered his head "I am sorry about that. I should be stronger, but I messed up. I'm still as weak as ever."

The kunoichi blinked, surprised by his words. Sasuke wasn't known for admitting to anything, let alone apologizing. Ino shook her head "well good, I'm glad you understand. Now Sakura." she grabbed her hand "Let's get you patched up."

Once they were a bit from the tree and had some privacy, Ino started to fuss over Sakura, checking her for injuries. Once she was satisfied, Ino moved behind her and started to clean the blood out of Sakura's hair. The two sat in silence while Ino worked. Sakura sighed; she wanted to let her guard down around Ino, but she couldn't; not in these woods. Ino squeezed her shoulder "There we go, your beautiful hair is intact and blood free."

Sakura blushed and smiled, "Thanks, Ino. let's go back to the others."

Ino nodded, and the two went back to find Naruto awake as well. His face lit up, "Ah Sakura! You're ok! Wow, you look beat up. Who was it? Huh, one of these punks, I'll mess them up."

Shikamaru tsked, "It wasn't us, you idiot you and your team would have been dead if we didn't show up."

"Huh?! Is that true, Sakura?" He looked frantically between her and Shikamaru.

Sakura nodded, "I did the best I could to stop the sound shinobi that came for us, but I couldn't beat them."

She sat Naruto down near Sasuke and told them what happened while they were out. "We have both scrolls so we can head to the tower."

"Oh, you guys are done too?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura nodded, "You guys got the scrolls as well?"

"It was a pain, but we got it before finding you all."

Ino clasped her hands, "then why don't we head to the tower together, it'll be easier for you guys since you're wounded."

Sakura looked to her team, but they didn't protest, so she nodded, "Yeah, that sounds good."

The six of them moved out, and by the morning of the third day, they arrived at the tower and entered it. They read the plaque on the wall, and Naruto announced he didn't understand it while Shikamaru said it was too much trouble to explain it.

Sasuke was distracted by his neck, which had been hurting since he woke up after Orochimaru bit him. Sakura sighed, "I think it means you need to know your weaknesses and train them whether they be mental or physical. I think it also wants us to open the scrolls."

Sakura, Naruto, Ino, and Choji opened the scrolls all at once. They stared at them for a moment before smoke started to billow from them "Shit summoning scrolls drop them, you guys!" Sasuke shouted.

The four of them threw the scrolls and backed away, preparing for a fight. They were surprised when two leaf shinobi stood on the scrolls. Iruka-sensei and the chunin with him both looked as surprised as the genin to see them.

The chunin waved and started to leave. "You got this, Iruka-san. I'm gonna take a smoke break."

Iruka nodded and looked at six of his former students with pride "wow, I gotta say I'm proud of you guys. You all made it here. Team Eight is already here, so that's all of the rookies this year. Congratulations on passing the second exam."

The group sagged and sighed with relief. Ino hugged Sakura, "we passed!"

Sakura laughed and held Ino, "Hell yeah, we did!"

Naruto grinned. "Oh, hey Iruka-sensei, what's up with the plaque on the wall."

Iruka smiled, "Yes, that. I was about to explain it. If you read it, the heaven part refers to your mind, and earth refers to your body. These are orders form the Hokage to chunin that tell them to identify their weaknesses and train. If your weakness is mental, then find a way to sharpen it. If your body is weak, then strengthen it. It's more than something a chunin should abide by. It's something all shinobi should strive to do. With that out of the way head inside, there's some food and bedding until the second exam is over."

Naruto hugged their former sensei before the six of them headed into the tower. They found Kiba, Shino, and Hinata pretty quickly, and the nine of them stuck together, for the most part, talking about how the exam went.

Kiba ragged on Sasuke and Naruto for being unconscious while their kunoichi teammate kept them safe. Sakura knew he was actually worried and just showing it in his own way. While most of them were asleep or getting food, Sakura and Ino sat on either side of Hinata, startling her. "So Hinata-chan we noticed you tried to give Naruto-Kun something earlier, what is it?" Ino asked

Hinata blushed and looked down at her hands "U-um it's this." she pulled a small cylindrical container out and unscrewed it.

Sakura looked at it, "is it a healing salve?"

The Hyuga girl nodded, "I-I made it myself, and I thought he could use it. I was going to give it to him before the exam, but I-I couldn't bring myself to do that."

Sakura nodded, "You really like that Idiot don't you?"

Hinata looked ready to bolt "I-I um..."

Ino smiled, looking at Sakura. "Yeah, she does. Should we help her give her gift to the dork?"

Sakura nodded and stood up, "Don't worry, Hinata we'll help you out. Naruto's kinda dense, but as his teammate, I feel this is for his own good, so I'll bring him over and Ino you provide emotional support for Hinata so she can hand over her gift."

Ino saluted, "Yes, Taichou!"

Hinata tried to stop them, but they reassured her, and Sakura marched off to grab her teammate. She found him with Kiba, Choji, and Lee, who had shown up. Apparently, they had gotten to the tower around the second day. They were all stuffing their faces with food. "Oi Naruto, come with me for a second; there's something you need to see."

"Huh? what is it?"

She sighed, "Just come with me, ok. It'll be worth your time, dope."

He swallowed his last bite and grumbled before following her as Kiba laughed about something. She brought him back to Hinata, who was fidgeting, and Ino, who was sitting nearby at an unobtrusive distance. "Here you go," Sakura said before stepping behind Hinata to give her an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder.

"Oh yo Hinata-chan, you need something?" Naruto grinned and waved.

Sakura felt like Hinata might bolt at any moment. "U-um... I made this and thought maybe." Sakura gave her a nod and squeezed her shoulder again. "I thought you could use this. I meant to give it to you sooner, but I didn't have a chance. It's a healing salve for minor wounds." She sputtered and thrust the container towards Naruto, who took it and unscrewed the cap to look at it.

"Wow, you said you made this yourself?'

Hinata nodded, and Naruto grinned "That's so cool! I will definitely use this thanks, Hinata-chan."

Sakura thought the girl might faint as Naruto waved and ran off to go get more food. "See, that wasn't so hard," Sakura said as they went and sat with Ino, who looked positively giddy.


	7. Chunin Exams Arc: Prelims

The days went by quickly though no one seemed to ease up. The Sunagakure shinobi gave Kiba and Akamaru a bad vibe, and the Otogakure shinobi had shown up. Sakura cursed under her breath she had hoped after stealing their scroll they wouldn't have been able to recover. She was surprised by the lack of hostility; if anything, they seemed to avoid being in the same room with them. That didn't stop them though from giving her death glares that made her feel uneasy.

Sasuke's strange bruise was hurting more often. She had looked at it and applied some healing salves and a bandage to cover it, but they didn't seem to do much of anything as the pain would come in waves at random times during the day and night.

The rookie nine slept in the same area in shifts, especially after Kiba told the others what his team saw Gaara do. Sakura spent most of her time with Ino and Hinata, who was opening up to them the more they hung around. Hinata had told them of her less than stellar relationship with her cousin after the trio ran into him, Lee and Tenten, who had gotten to the tower around the same time as Sakura's team.

On the fifth day, Kabuto's team came in, and the second exam was declared finished, and all those in the tower were called to a large indoor training room with an upper walkway for observation. Seven teams had passed, leading to twenty-one total genin left.

The Hokage stepped forward and gave a speech on the purpose of the Chunin Exams and how they were the alternative to war between nations. Sakura hid her disgust at the idea of that, but she understood that the alternative was a higher body count than any village would be able to live through.

He announced a preliminary exam before the third exam since many influential people were coming to see the shinobi and their skills, they didn't want to waste their time with less than the best up and coming shinobi.

The proctor for the preliminaries Hayate Gekkō stepped forward "before we start if anyone thinks they are unable to fight to their fullest due to injuries you may forfeit now." He coughed as the genin made their decisions.

Sakura reached up gently touching Sasuke's arm. He simply shook his head, and Sakura knew he was too stubborn to be convinced to drop out. They had gone through too much to get here even with the bruise causing increased pain every day.

Kabuto was the only one to raise his hand and forfeit, sighting that his team's last fight they got into left him battered and unable to perform at his best. With no other forfeits, a screen was revealed on the wall, and Hayate spoke, "This will randomly select two names from the remaining twenty of you. The two combatants will stay down here and fight until one is dead, unconscious, or gives up. I will stop the match if I believe that a clear winner is shown." the screen flicked on and selected Sasuke and Yoroi, one of Kabuto's teammates.

Sakura looked worried while Sasuke looked excited to be getting to fight so soon. Hayate coughed and pointed to the walkways "if you're not fighting, go up to the observation walkways. Combatants get ready to fight."

While everyone went up to the walkway, Kakashi tapped Sasuke's shoulder "Don't let that mark on your neck get out of hand. If you do, we'll stop the fight you'll be forfeited. Once you're done, I'll put a seal on it. No objections or complaints, it's dangerous."

Sasuke nodded, "I know Sensei. I'll do my best."

Kakashi smiled. "Good also no Sharingan, or you'll lose control. Good luck."

As they leaned on the railing to watch their teammate fight, Kakashi appeared behind Naruto and Sakura, "Hello, my genin good to see you made it out alive."

Naruto was too focused on Sasuke's fight to say anything to Kakashi, but Sakura pulled her attention away as their sensei leaned on the railing next to her. "Sensei... in the woods Sasuke-"

"I know. The Hokage and those who need to all know about the mark on his neck. I'll take care of it as best I can once his fight is done. In the meantime, just watch the fight and see what you can learn from it."

Sakura nodded and observed her teammates fight. His opponent could siphon chakra from his enemies and sap their strength in the process. It seemed to be going in Yoroi's favor until Sasuke busted out taijutsu moves that looked like variations on what Lee had used against him during their impromptu sparring match. Kakashi appeared behind Sasuke, propping the genin up with his knee after the match was over. "Good job. Let's go seal that mark."

Kakashi took Sasuke off, and Sakura felt some relief wash over her. "Hey, Sakura, did it look like something was on Sasuke while he was fighting like some kind of black marks?"

Sakura smiled "I'm sure it was nothing, Naruto probably just shadows and besides if it was something you know Sasuke would tell us. He trusts us; we're his teammates and friends after all."

Naruto nodded, "Hm yeah, you're right, I guess I was just seeing things."

Sakura sighed, hatting how she had to keep secrets, but Sasuke said he would tell Naruto after the exams were over so he wouldn't waste time worrying about Sasuke instead of focusing on the exams.

Hayata coughed, "alright, let's move on to the next match." the screen lit up Shino vs. Zaku.

"Kick his ass, Shino!" Kiba screamed as his teammate took his place in the arena.

Sakura noticed his right arm was in a sling and his left hand was heavily bandaged thanks to her kunai during their fight. He looked up at her with murder in his eyes as she stuck her tongue out at him.

Shino suggested Zaku quit before the match started and that any fighting would only end in worse injuries for him. Zaku didn't take that well, and right as the match began, he was on the offensive using taijutsu to get in close on Shino then revealed that his arm in the sling isn't as injured as it seemed. He twisted his palm to face Shino and blasted him into the wall.

Shino got up as bugs scurried across his clothes and skin. "You won't win." he pointed, and Zaku turned to see a black mass of insects coming to a stop a few feet from the sound shinobi. "Either way, you attack the other side will get you. Surrender."

Zaku tore the bandages off his hand. "Fuck you, fuck that, and fuck pinkie up there. I'm gonna win this and teach her a lesson!"

He pointed his hands in either direction, "Zankūkyokuha!"

His arms surged with chakra, but nothing happened for a moment, then his arms started to burst along the chakra paths, and he screamed. Zaku stopped channeling chakra and looked at his palms as Shino's insects crawled along his hands.

Sakura cringed as the match was called, and Zaku was taken to the infirmary. Shino simply walked back up to his team as he passed Sakura smiled, "Goodwin Shino."

He simply nodded and joined Kiba and Hinata, who were congratulating him. The next match was brought up on the screen Misumi vs. Kankuro. Sakura paid attention to the fight it looked like it was going to be over quickly with Kankuro losing it would have served him right for being so rude to them when they first met. He turned the match around when it turned out he was in the puppet container, and the him currently bound by the enemy was a ninja puppet.

Kakashi startled his genin by suddenly speaking behind them, "Oh a puppet, you don't see many shinobi who can use those effectively."

"Sensei, you're back! How's Sasuke?!" Naruto asked as the match came to an end.

"Oh, he's sleeping and perfectly fine."

"That's good; he looked like he'd been dealing with some pain since before the match."

Sakura blinked "wait, you noticed he was having issues and didn't bring it up?"

Naruto nodded "yeah, because I know he's an idiot who would be in a sour mood if I pestered him. Since he was managing, I just let him manage."

Kakashi and Sakura both looked impressed but turned their attention to the screen as it blinked on again. Sakura sighed, she knew she would have to fight one of the other kunoichis, but why did it have to be her friend.

Ino smiled as she walked by, "come on, Sakura time to see if your training has paid off or if I'll embarrass you like in the academy."

Sakura smiled and cracked her knuckles "oh, you want to smack talk Ino? I was thinking about going easy on you, but now. This is gonna be fun."

The two made their way down and took their places. Right at the match start, both threw braces of shuriken that intercepted each other. Sakura closed the distance first and started with her taijutsu, and thanks to all the sparring Kakashi had her doing, Ino was struggling to keep up, but she was Sakura's best friend, the two of them had done plenty of sparring together.

Ino was quick to put distance between them before making several basic clones to run around Sakura. The Inos jumped at her from all sides, and Sakura dropped channeling chakra to her hair, making it stab out in all directions. The real Ino dodged nearly getting stabbed in the stomach. "Wow, are you really trying to kill me? Is it because I ate the last of the cake at your house before the exams?"

Sakura jumped back, "wait, what? I was going to eat that after the exams were over."

Ino shrugged, "Whoops, I'll treat you as an apology, ok?"

Sakura sighed and pulled a kunai out "fine." she ran forward, and Ino blocked her swing with her own kunai.

The two were locked in combat for a time, but Ino was quickly running out of stamina and made one mistake, which is all Sakura needed to land a solid series of punches putting Ino on the ground. Ino raised her hand while she laid on the ground and groaned, "I forfeit."

The match was called, and Sakura helped Ino up who denied medical treatment and simply walked back up to her teammates. Choji offered her chips that Ino took, and Shikamaru just muttered troublesome while Asume detailed what aspects she would need to work on when they got back to training.

Naruto and Kakashi congratulated her on the win, and Kakashi told her what they would change in her training. The next match was put on the screen Temari vs. Tenten. Sakura had no idea what either of their abilities was, so she kept a close eye on them because she was sure that whoever won here would be her opponent in the third exam.

The fight ended up being somewhat one-sided when it turned out the giant fan on Temari's back was for futon jutsu, which countered Tenten's weapons entirely. As the match was over and Shikimarus was starting, Naruto asked Sakura, "Hey, what was that stuff with the scrolls?"

"What? Naruto, have you never used a storage scroll? We covered them at the academy."

"Oh, I probably skipped that day, so what's the deal with them?"

"It's Fūinjutsu, the ninja art of sealing. It's like a jutsu, but you draw certain patterns and kanji to make the jutsu, then you use chakra to trigger it. You can store things or make barriers with them. Explosive tags are the same." She covered her mouth and tried not to laugh when Shikimaru made Kin smash her head against the wall and knock herself out.

Naruto scratched his face like he was thinking hard about something. "I'll get some things to help introduce you to it later, Naruto, for now, it looks like it's your time to shine," Kakashi said, pointing to the board that just popped his name against Kiba. Naruto cheered that he'd finally get to fight as he made his way down to the floor.

"Oi, what's with the dog?" Naruto asked as Kiba took his spot across from him.

Hayata cleared his throat before coughing "Ninken are allowed, they are seen as a ninja tool in the rules of the exams."

"Pft fine, then I'll just have to beat Kiba-Kun and his dog."

Kiba grinned like a wild animal "Oh really? I doubt I'll even need Akamaru's help." he put Akamaru down and patted his head "You just sit here, boy. I'll take care of him with a single hit."

The match started, and Kiba immediately dropped to all fours and charged, delivering a full-force punch to Naruto's stomach that laid him out flat against the ground. Kiba smirked, "Wow, that really was all it took?" He turned to collect Akamaru.

Naruto was back on his feet after a few steps grinning as blood trickled from his mouth "that all you got, Kiba-Kun? Pretty weak guess you're all bark and no bite."

Kiba growled. "Alright, Akamaru, you help me out we're gonna teach this guy a lesson."

Akamaru barked as Kiba threw smoke bombs at Naruto and dived into the cloud as it formed. Naruto cursed, not being able to see as Kiba took swipes and ran before he could get hit. "That's it, Fūton: Reppūshō!" Naruto spread his hands, and the wind blew away the smoke exposing Kiba.

He made half a dozen clones, four of which ran with him to fight Kiba while the other two grabbed Akamaru before he could do anything. Kiba cursed and gave ground as the five Naruto's advanced trying to surround him. Still, Kiba was faster and dropped to all fours before pouncing on the first one to try and attack dispelling him immediately, but the other four were already on the attack, and Kiba was back to dodging. He threw smoke bombs to try and blind them, and it worked for a moment. He took two out, but the others used futon and dispersed the smoke again.

Kiba smoked the area and instead made a b-line and rescued Akamaru. They turned to see Naruto had made more shadow clones who rushed the two. Kiba popped a food pill into Akamaru's mouth, "you ready, boy?"

Akamaru barked as he grew larger, and his fur turned red. In a puff of smoke that temporarily blinded Naruto to what happened, he felt his clones disperse, and when the smoke cleared there were two Kibas the left one spoke "alright idiot let's see if you can handle this attack." they both dropped to all fours "Gatsūga!"

The two took off rotating at high speed as they tore through the Naruto clones and hit the real one sending him flying and hitting the ground hard. Kiba laughed, "and down he goes again. The biggest loser of our year just hasn't learned yet. You can't win Naruto-kun give up."

Naruto stumbled to his feet and wiped the blood from his face "Hell no! I'm not going to give up! I'll beat you and then work my way to Hokage. I won't let a mutt like you stop me!"

Kiba growled and retook his stance with Akamaru. He threw smoke bombs even if Naruto got rid of them; it would burn some of his chakra and make him that much weaker. He was surprised when the smoke didn't clear immediately but choked it up to Naruto being an idiot. The two dove into the cloud, ready to tear Naruto apart.

While Kiba and Akamaru were in the smoke trying to hit the Naruto they could smell was in there, he made clones and had them run out of the smoke, not all of them made it. However, Kiba seemed to be betting on just taking out the creator and ending it before Naruto's plan could come together.

"Alright, let's end this!" Naruto shouted as his clones ran through the hand signs in unison and said, "Fūton: Reppūshō!"

Twelve clones all cast the jutsu causing a cyclone of mismatched wind directions trapping Kiba and Akamaru as Naruto jumped above it and threw all his kunai and shuriken. They came from all sides, and neither was able to dodge them all. As it came to an end, four Naruto's attacked from different sides, knocking Akamru out of his transformation. Naruto delivered a solid punch that rattled Kiba and left him open for the new combo he was going to try out.

Four clones sprinted in and delivered simultaneous kicks sending Kiba into the sky. At the same time, Naruto used one of his clones as a springboard to get above Kiba and deliver an ax kick to Kiba's head, sending him to the ground and knocking him out. Naruto landed and dispelled his clones. "Remember this, everyone, you underestimate me, and you lose!" Naruto grinned at his proclamation while those in the stands looked stunned by his victory.

As Naruto came up and pulled the salve out of his pouch and applied it to various cuts and scrapes, "wow Hinata, this stuff works great! Thanks again for making it for me!"

Hinata mumbled and blushed "I-its um I'm glad it works well."

Kakashi sighed, watching them, and Kurinia looked surprised by her students' actions. The next round was brought up quickly, and Hinata looked devastated to see her name up there against Neji. The two walked down and took their positions across from each other. Before the match even started, Neji started to talk to Hinata. "Hinata-sama, I have to say I am surprised that fate would have us fight."

Hinata looked worried as she spoke, "Neji-nii-san, I had hoped we wouldn't have to fight."

"Hm, of course, you would. You're too soft, Hinata-sama. That's why you were so reluctant to start the Chunin exams, wasn't it? You can try to hide it for your teammates' sake, but I know you only agreed because you didn't want to let them down. You lack the confidence to take these things seriously or make a decision on your own terms. You're weak afraid of disappointing others."

"N-no, that's not- I just want to improve... I want to be better." Hinata fidgeted and couldn't look Neji in the eyes as he glared at her.

"A spoiled brat of the main family can't change no one can. You are and always will be a failure and an embarrassment to our family name."

As he spoke, Hinata shook, and her eyes kept flickering all around the room, but she couldn't look him in the eyes as he talked about fate and how she had no hope of improving and that this fight would prove just how much of a failure she is.

The veins around his eyes bulged as he activated his Byakugan making Hinata flinch and avert her gaze to the floor. Neji growled, "You can't even look at me! Do you think yourself so high above me, or are you such a coward, and so scared of what might be that you can't bring yourself to look up and face what's in front of you?"

Naruto gritted his teeth as Neji kept talking he was glaring daggers at the back of the Huyga's head before finally snapping "Oi! Who do you think you are?! You have no right to judge people or decide what they're like! What makes you think you have any right to look down on others! Hinata kick this guy's ass for me before I have to listen to more of this drivel!"

Those around Naruto looked surprised while Neji looked up at him, annoyed before turning his attention back to Hinata, who had collected herself. "Neji-nii-san, I will not forfeit this match! I-I challenge you, Neji-nii-san." Hinata's Byakugan activated as she took a stance. Neji smiled and copied her stance as his eyes activated.

Hayata started the match, and the two Jūken users began. It wasn't a match full of spectacle, but the precision of the strikes and the power behind them was something to watch. Naruto cheered for Hinata as she tried her hardest. Though a blow to the chest left her stumbling and coughing up blood. Hinata tried to counter, but Neji blocked her chakra paths in both arms, effectively ending her ability to use the Jūken style.

That didn't stop Hinata as she got back into her stance and continued to fight. Neji tried to talk down to her, but Hinata's resolve was solid, and she would not yield to him despite her injury.

Sakura glanced at Naruto and said, "you know she's like this now because you were the one to encourage her. She's been keeping an eye on you since the academy. I think she values your opinion a lot Naruto."

Naruto grinned, "I don't know what I did, but if it helps." he took a deep breath and shouted, "you got this Hinata! I know you can beat this guy!"

Sakura smiled as Hinata set herself more firmly and went on the attack. It proved not to be enough as Neji landed yet another devastating blow to her heart, making her cough up more blood as she fell to the ground. Neji looked disgusted as he stared down at her, "Pathetic from start to finish." he walked away from her deactivating his eyes.

Hayata was about to call the match when Naruto interrupted stalling just long enough for Hinata to get back on her feet though she looked like a stiff breeze might push her over. She looked up at Neji with a fire in her eyes, ready to fight again.

Neji ground his teeth. "Why are you putting up this front Hinata-sama? You can barely stand, why are you making yourself suffer like this? No one can change; you will always be the weak disgrace of the main family. Just surrender already."

Hinata smiled, "it's ok, Neji-nii-san. I know you're suffering because of what happened. I can bear this little bit of pain if it helps you feel at ease."

Neji screamed and rushed her but didn't get far as Hayata, Kakashi, Guy, and Kurenai stopped him in his tracks. Kurenai ran to catch Hinata as she collapsed and gently lowered her student to the ground. Naruto and the others rushed down to check on her as well.

Neji looked at Naruto as Hinata mumbled something to him. "Hey failure in orange here's some free advice if you're actually serious about being a shinobi stop being so loud all the time, and secondly, you two will always be failures you can't change that."

Naruto stood and faced Neji "you want to prove that asshole?"

"Come and try it, maybe you'll get a spot in the ER next to Hinata-sama. A couple of failures suffering together."

Lee stepped in, stopping Naruto from rushing him. "Please, Naruto-Kun, you cannot fight unless it is an official match. Though if we're honest, I will most likely be the one to fight Neji in the third exam."

"Tsk fine; we'll see about that bush brows." Naruto turned and headed back to Hinata.

Naruto stumbled to a stop as Hinata coughed up more blood. Kurenai quickly unzipped her jacket and checked her pulse. "She's gone into ventricle fib. Where are the medics?!" She glared at Neji, realizing he could have been trying to kill Hinata.

Neji just smiled, "best get her taken care of instead of glaring at me."

The medics showed up muttering to themselves as they got her on the stretcher and hauled her away. Naruto watched stunned at just how badly she was hurt. He turned his eyes red with vertical pupils, "I swear I'll beat you!"

The jounin in the room tensed, but Naruto blinked, and his eyes were normal again as he walked away. Naruto tried to stand off to the side more, but Sakura dragged him back to where Kakashi and the others were "come on, you don't get down in the dumps, I'm sure Hinata-chan will be ok."

Naruto didn't protest and simply took up his old spot next to her. Kakashi patted his shoulder, "We'll make sure you're ready for when you fight him."

Once the floor was cleared off blood, the next match was called up Gaara vs. Lee. Lee was more excited than Naruto was for his match. The combatants made their way down and started their match. As it progressed, Guy informed the others of how Lee can only use taijutsu and how he spends all his time training to be the best he can. "Lee, you have my permission don't hold back!"

Lee grinned and pumped his fist as he started to remove his training weights. Sakura sucked in a breath at Lee's new speed "Oh it's a good thing Sasuke isn't here he would be so mad right now."

Naruto laughed, "I'm gonna tell him all about this fight afterward."

They both flinched when they watched Lee perform the Primary Lotus and realized that almost happened to Sasuke. The fight turned in Gaara's favor as Lee had apparently strained himself quite a bit by performing the Lotus. Sakura and Naruto cheered Lee on in tandem with Guy-sensei.

Things looked hopeful as Lee recovered and started to open the inner gates, which Kakashi explained to Naruto. The fight seemed to be over after Lee performed the Hidden Lotus until they saw that Gaara had softened the blow by dissolving his gourd and using the sand as a cushion. The match was over in an instant as Gaara crushed Lee's leg and arm, and Guy had to intervene before Gaara killed him.

Things were a blur from there as Lee stood but collapsed again quickly. The medics rushed in to collect him and speak to Guy-sensei about his condition and their initial idea about the extent of the damage. Kakashi put a firm hand on both his students "it'll be alright. Let the medics handle it."

The final match of Dosu vs. Choji felt muted and rather anticlimactic after what happened to Lee. That didn't stop Ino from cheering her teammate on as best she could. Once the match was called, and Dosu won the winners minus Sasuke went down to the ground where they were informed that there would be a month's worth of time for recovery and training before the third exam started.

They drew lots, and the tournament order was decided upon. Neji vs. Naruto, Dosu vs. Shikamaru, Kankuro vs. Shino, and Sakura vs. Temari, Sasuke vs. Gaara. With everything done with they were dismissed.


	8. Chunin Exam Arc: Training

Neither Sakura nor Naruto could find Kakashi once it was all over, so they went their separate ways. Naruto went to see if he could check up on Hinata and Sasuke while Sakura went back home her parents note said they'd be getting back around this time.

She was a little disappointed to see they weren't back yet, but that gave her more time to train for her upcoming match. She'd need to find a way to counter Temari's futon. Sakura looked over as someone knocked on her front door, "coming!"

She opened it to see Kakashi, who waved "Yo Sakura-chan. Some things have come up, and I won't have time to train you all, so I've passed Naruto over to Ebisu-san, and I brought you some scrolls on doton jutsu you could use against the Suna girl. I'd have gotten someone to help, but most jonin and special jonin are busy, and you're pretty clever. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out."

"Wow, Sensei, what did a new pervy book come out, and you're all scrambling to read it?" Sakura wouldn't admit to being annoyed by her Sensei not even being able to find someone to pass her off to for this month.

"Hm kind of but not really. It's nothing you need to worry about as a genin you just need to worry about training and showing how much you've improved since the Academy."

He handed over the scrolls and disappeared with a puff of smoke. Sakura sighed and headed back inside to look over the new material she'd head to their team's training ground tomorrow after visiting the hospital.

Naruto was pissed why of all people did Kakashi-sensei think Ebisu the closet pervert would be an acceptable replacement. "I don't want to train with you. I'd rather do it alone if I can't train with Kakashi-sensei."

Ebisu sighed and adjusted his glasses "I agreed to this because I owed Kakashi-san, and... I admit you have inspired the Honorable Grandson where I failed, so I wish to show my thanks by helping you improve yourself for the Chunin Exams."

"Hmph, I don't like you. You don't own up to your perverted ways. I beat you in a fight, why should I let you teach me?"

"Oh, I must prove myself to the genin. Alright, how about this? If you can get away from me, I'll drop this and tell Kakashi-san that I cannot help. If I can stay with you until you concede, I will have proven myself a reliable tutelage source. How does that sound to you, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto scrunched his face in annoyance "don't call me that, and fine, I agree."

"Then, we shall start right away." Ebisu adjusted his glasses "You best start running."

Naruto tore down the hospital halls and was out on the roofs of Konoha in no time. He grinned as it looked like Ebisu wasn't anywhere to be seen. He cheered as he landed on a rooftop only to see a shadow cast over him, and when he looked up, Ebisu was standing there smiling.

Naruto smoke bombed the roof, and twenty Narutos burst out in all directions. The chase went on for hours until Naruto finally caved and agreed to have Ebisu teach him. Ebisu treated him to ramen and explained their training. "Chakra control? I see Sakura practicing it all the time. Sensei says she has the best control out of the three of us. Why do I need to do it?"

Ebisu sighed "because as it stands based on what I've been told from Kakashi-san and from your records at the Academy, you have the worst control not only of your team but of your graduating year. You use almost twice the amount of chakra to perform almost half the amount of a jutsu as the others. The only reason you have managed till now is that your an-" he cut himself off and cleared his throat "because you have a large chakra reserve."

Naruto smiled "I know about my parents Ebisu-san Kakashi-sensei told me all about them. Jiji would only tell me who my mom was, so I had to ask Sensei about my dad."

"So, you know he was the Hokage."

Naruto downed the rest of his ramen "Yep, and now I know for sure I can do it too. If my old man was good enough and my mom had the dream to do it, I can surely become the Hokage one day."

"Maybe but not with that chakra control. Since you're finished, we'll head out and start your training." Ebisu paid and stood "come along Naruto-san."

The two of them made their way to the hot springs, and once inside, Ebisu ran him through water walking and how it would help Naruto.

Sakura walked into the Yamanaka Family Flower Shop. She expected to see Ino's mother at the counter, not Ino herself. "Oh, Ino, you're here? I figured you'd be helping Shikamaru-kun train."

"I'd help that slacker, but Asuma-sensei said he would only need Choji, and mom wanted some time off from the shop, so I'm here. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be training?"

"I'm gonna go visit Sasuke to see how he's doing and check on Lee before I get to training. Though I could use a partner, so if you get some free time, would you mind?"

Ino smiled, "of course I'll help you out! I can't help today, but how about tomorrow?"

Sakura smiled, "of course."

There was a bit of silence as Sakura picked out a couple of flowers Ino rung them up, "Have you heard about Lee's condition?"

"No, what have you heard?" She paid and took the two flowers.

"Apparently, they think he might not be able to continue as a shinobi. His injuries are... severe, to say the least."

Sakura gulped and looked at the flowers "I'll see how he's coping. Hopefully, he won't be too down in the dumps about it."

Ino gave her a quick hug. "I'll see you tomorrow Sakura, tell Sasuke and Lee I said hi."

Sakura waved and headed off to the hospital. It didn't take her long to get there and ask the front desk about visiting. The receptionist flipped through some papers, "Hm, they both need their rest, but I can allow a short visit to them both."

"Thank you, that will be fine, actually what about Hinata Hyuga?"

A few more pages flipped before the receptionist shook her head, "she can't have visitors yet."

"Ok, thank you."

The receptionist nodded and led Sakura to Sasuke's room first. Sakura wasn't all that surprised that he had bailed from his hospital bed. They headed to Lees after the receptionist told the other nurses to look for him. It was almost repeated when they arrived to see Lee was missing though they found him right outside the window. The nurse tried, but Lee was insistent on training. Sakura clenched her first, "Lee-kun!"

Lee stopped looking up at her "Did Guy-sensei fail as a teacher? Or do you not listen to his lessons? I'm certain he has taught you the importance of recovery and taking time to heal so that things do not worsen."

She felt terrible at how hurt he looked, but Lee nodded and hobbled to his feet. "I- You're right, Sakura-san Guy-sensei has told me repeatedly to be sure to recover."

Sakura sighed, "I know what they said about you still being a shinobi, but I also know that you won't give up, and you shouldn't, but if you work while you're injured your injuries will not heal right, and you stand less of a chance. Remember Lee-san, sometimes a shinobi needs to be still and patient."

Once they climbed back in through the window, Sakura put the two flowers in a vase "here you get both because Sasuke ran off."

Lee smiled, "thank you, Sakura-san, they are quite beautiful."

"Ino's family has the best flowers. Try not to give the nurses a scare like that I understand your commitment, but rest is important."

"I will do my best for you, Sakura-san!" Lee pumped his fist with enthusiasm, and Sakura smiled and said her goodbyes before heading out after a few minutes.

Naruto had fallen into the hot spring water half a dozen times before he started to show progress. Ebisu was glad to see progress but jumped when Naruto pointed behind him and made a distressed sound before he sank. Ebisu turned around, seeing a man sitting with his back to them facing the wall. _'Ah perfect, if I show Naruto how much I won't tolerate such a thing, perhaps he will stop telling people I'm a closet pervert.'_

Ebisu jumped off the water, "Hey you! I cannot allow such degenerate behavior in this place!"

Ebisu immediately regretted his discussion to confront this man when he summoned a giant toad that grabbed Ebisu and smacked him against the ground knocking out the special jonin. "Tsk don't make such a fuss you'll ruin everything-"

"AH! You knocked him out, you perv! I can't believe you're in here spying on ladies!" Naruto yelled.

The white-haired man turned as the women on the other side screamed, and the sounds of doors being thrown open could be heard. "You damn brat! You ruined my research material. Now I need to bail before I get in trouble."

"Aw come on ya old perv I need a new trainer now, and you did that cool thing where the toad appeared. I saw a lady do that in the chunin exams with huge snakes before they were pretty tough, but I beat both the snakes I went up against."

Jiraiya stopped in his tracks towards the exit "You fought a lady with big snakes in the Chunin Exams?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah yeah, she was super tough and beat my team and me, but thankfully we all made it out alive."

"What's your name, kid?"

Naruto grinned, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna be Hokage one day!"

Jiraiya gave him another once over and nodded, "you certainly are. I'm Jiraiya, the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku. Now you were talking about training? I presume the Chunin Exams."

Naruto nodded as the two started to move again and made their way out of the hot springs. "Yeah, my whole team has made it to the third exam. We're all training separately till the third exam, so you gonna train me ya old perv."

"Stop calling me that! What kind of training were you doing in the hot springs anyways?"

Naruto explained what Ebisu wanted to accomplish. "Hm, you know a place with water where we can work?"

"Oh yeah, we can use the team training ground. Sasuke is in the hospital recovering, I don't know what Sakura is doing, but it should be fine."

"Lead the way then, kid."

Jiraiya followed Naruto to training ground seven and watched quietly as he walked over to the memorial stone that was nearby "Heya Kaa-san, Tou-san I made it through the first two parts and the prelims for part three of the Chunin Exams. I was hoping Kakashi-sensei would help me train, but he said he was busy. I got stuck with Ebisu-san, but now I've got a strong teacher. He's a huge perv, and he says his name is Jirayia; he summoned a toad, which was really cool. I'll be sure to talk again later, for now, I need to train."

"Your parents are on that stone?" Jiraiya asked as Naruto came back over.

"Yep. Kakashi-sensei told me about them. Apparently, he was on my dad's genin team."

"I didn't expect Kakashi to do that."

"You know, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I worked with him occasionally while I was in the village. I also knew your parents quite well."

Naruto gaped, "an old perv like you knew them?!'

"Stop calling me that and yes. Maybe I'll tell you about it after training."

Jiraiya watched as Naruto attempted water waking and fell in almost immediately. The young shinobi climbed out and stripped down to his underwear, laying it all out on a rock nearby. "Hm come here kid I know something that can help. Close your eyes and just circulate chakra, don't worry about anything else."

Naruto stepped closer and did as he was told. Jiraiya looked at Naruto's stomach as the Kuybi's seal appeared. It stuck out right away that someone had put an odd-numbered seal overtop the original seal causing a disruption. "Alright, kid, now raise your hands above your head and give a good holler."

"You want me to raise my hands and scream?"

"Yeah, it'll all make sense in a minute; just do as your sensei tells."

As Naruto did as he was told, Jiraiya pulled his hand back and jabbed his fingers into Naruto's stomach and released the odd-numbered seal. Naruto collapsed gasping "ah, what the hell ya old perv!"

"Haha! Don't worry, I just hit some pressure points to help your flow. Go out on the water and try it again."

Naruto focused his chakra and hesitantly stepped out onto the water. After a few wobbly steps, he grinned and jumped, landing back on the water's surface "Oh yeah! I got it!"

"You have the basics." Jiraiya stepped onto the water "now we can train by having you fight on the water."

The two spent the rest of the day sparing on and off. Naruto took several dozen dips into the river during the fights. As they rested between spars, Jiraiya would have him practice his control. "You have your mother's chakra reserves for sure."

Naruto grinned as he made the leaf stick to his palm before making it hover an inch above wobbling as his chakra fluctuated. His smile faltered, "you know sometimes it doesn't... always feel right."

Jiraiya closed his notebook, "Oh, how so?"

"It sounds crazy, but I've heard this voice before and felt this weird chakra in me then suddenly I can't remember anything and the fight is over. The first time I remember was in the Land of Waves, Kakashi-sensei said I took out Haku, who was way stronger than me. Then again in the Chunin Exams when I fought the snake lady, I mentioned."

"So you've noticed it... You aren't crazy, though I am surprised to hear it talks. Does it talk often?"

Naruto shook his head, "only those two times. What is it?"

"Hm," Jiraiya scratched his chin. "Hiruzen-sensei will be quite mad if he realizes I told you so best not tell him you know about this, ok."

Naruto nodded nervously. "Your father, the Yondaime Hokage, my student, sealed inside you the Kyubi, a demon known as a Biju. Your mother was the... warden, so to speak for it before you. The voice you hear and that strange chakra that floods your system is the Kyubi pushing against the restraints of their seal."

Naruto sat back, letting the lead fall as he processed that information. "The nine tails. What does it look like?"

"A huge red fox as in larger than most buildings. Nine tails, as the name suggests. It's been referred to as the incarnation of rage and hatred. Of the nine-tailed beasts, it is the strongest and most dangerous. I can teach you how to manage it, but not right now. We need to focus on your control so I can teach you how to summon."

Naruto grinned and jumped up "I'm gonna be able to summon toads like you? Or is it different for everyone?"

Jiraiya pulled a small scroll out of his pack and unraveled it. Naruto's eyes lit up as he watched Jiraiya channel chakra into the storage seal, and in a puff of smoke, a larger scroll appeared. "This is the summoning contract for the toads of Mount Myōboku. There are a lot of summoning scrolls out there for a lot of different kinds of summons. I have a good and lovely friend who can summon a giant slug that amplifies her healing jutsu."

"Wow, that's cool. Can you have more than one contract?"

"Hold your horse's kid, yes you can have more than one contract, but we'll start with this once you're ready. Now back on the water, we're going again."

"Yes, pervy-sensei."

By the time the sun had set, Naruto was nearing exhaustion, and Jiraiya patted his back "alright kid, where's your favorite place to eat dinner's on me."

Ino knocked on Sakura's door, and her friend answered she was surprised to see her friend not in her usual red qipao dress, but instead a pair of workout shorts and a loose shirt. Sakura wiped the sweat off her face. "Oh, Ino, what's up? I wasn't expecting you."

Ino shrugged and did her best to look past her. "Figured I'd come by to study up on the basic medical stuff we were going over. Unless I'm interrupting your work out."

"No I finished, I was just about to make dinner. You can help. Come on, we'll eat and study."

Ino pouted as she entered, "making your guest help you cook a meal seems a bit rude."

Sakura laughed, "With how much time you spend here, you're practically family, so come on, get your butt in the kitchen."

Sasuke collapsed on the ground as the sky grew darker, and Kakashi stood over him. "I'm not really one to talk, but you should be resting in the hospital."

Sasuke panted and looked up at his Sensei, "then why did you agree to train me."

Kakashi shrugged, "who knows. Maybe watching what happened to Lee spooked me. That Suna shinobi is going to be tough, so I need you to be prepared for anything."

"I thought I wasn't supposed to use the Sharingan now that this curse mark is on me."

"Just until I had time to start training you. Now get up just because the sun is down doesn't mean we're done training."

The next morning Sakura rolled out of bed and narrowly avoided stepping on Ino, who was still sound asleep. "Come on, sleepyhead, get up." she nudged her with her foot.

Ino groaned and rolled over. "Why? I don't have training this morning."

"Well, I do, and you agreed to help me so up and at em."

"Ugh, why am I such a good friend." Ino sat up, and Sakura patted her head.

"I would be lost without you. Now come on I'll make breakfast as thanks for helping me."

Ino pumped her fist before getting out of bed. "You're the best friend."

"So are you." Sakura headed down to start breakfast.

After breakfast, they headed to Team Sevens training field and were surprised to see Naruto there with a white-haired man. Ino said to Sakura, "I thought Ebisu-sensei was teaching Naruto-kun."

"That's what Kakashi-sensei told me. Yo Naruto, what are you doing?!"

Naruto looked over, distracting him, which was a mistake as the white-haired man kicked him into the water. "Don't get distracted, Naruto, just because some girls are calling you."

Naruto burst from the water and climbed back up "shut it, ya old perv!"

The two made their way over to Sakura and Ino. Sakura asked, "So who's this? I thought Ebisu-sensei was gonna train you."

Naruto spat "he was knocked out by Jiraiya-san, and now he's teaching me. What are you two doing here?"

"Ino is helping me train, but I guess we'll have to find somewhere else-"

"Nonsense Ladies stay here and train. I will assist you if you need it." Jiraiya smiled, and Naruto scoffed, calling him a perv.

Sakura shrugged and got to work sparring with Ino while Jiraiya and Naruto stepped out onto the river again. Sakura channeled chakra into her hair as Ino tried to attack from behind. Ino cursed as her hand impacted the chakra infused hair; she pulled her hand back with several shallow thin cuts on her fingers. "That hair is dangerous now. I'll need to be careful."

Sakura grinned, "Yeah, you do. Can you keep going?"

Ino nodded as the bleeding stopped with the help of some chakra. As they fought, Jiraiya hummed, "She has good control of her chakra to infuse it into her hair that quickly."

Naruto was doing his control exercises as he spoke, "Ebisu-san said Sakura has the best control in our graduating year."

"Hm, keep practicing." Jiraiya stood up and headed over to the sparring kunoichi.

"You girly with the pink hair. Sakura-san, right?"

Sakura and Ino stopped fighting, and Sakura nodded, "yes, Jiraiya-san, do you need something?"

"That move you just did with your hair, where did you learn that?"

"Kakashi-sensei gave me the name of a scroll, and it showed me how to put chakra in my hair and manipulate it though I'm not very practiced with it."

"Interesting, and you've already used it as a shield. If you want to use it more effectively while you're at this skill level, I recommend working on just infusing part of it; you'll have less to focus on and thus better control."

Sakura nodded and infused one part of her hair and, with some focus, got it to curl around to the front and stick out in front of her. Her concentration wavered, and it fell limply on her shoulder. "Wow, thank you, Jiraiya-san."

Jiraiya smiled and went back to Naruto. "Oi kid, did I say to stop? Keep floating the leaf."

A week went by before Jiraiya started to teach Naruto how to summon toads. Naruto could only manage tadpoles for a week and a half until Jiraiya had an idea. He had Naruto exhaust himself sparring Ino and Sakura and his own clones, and once he was worn out, they left Ino and Sakura to train.

Jiraiya took Naruto deeper into the woods and pushed him into a ravine, and Naruto managed to summon Gamabunta. Meanwhile, Sakura got the hang of her various new jutsu and was feeling confident in herself. Jiraiya came by the training field the next day to tell her Naruto was in the hospital with chakra exhaustion and that he'd be fine.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was still camped out in the middle of nowhere with Kakashi, who was drilling him day and night on controlling his Sharingan without drawing on the curse seal while teaching him how to use the Chidori.

After a few days, Sakura and Ino decided to go check on Naruto and Choji after Ino heard he was in the hospital because he overate the night before. They stopped by and grabbed a couple flowers for them and Lee; Ino grabbed a fruit basket. "Gonna tease Choji by eating this in front of him."

Sakura laughed, "that's messed up, Ino, but I'll help you out."

They arrived at the hospital to see the sign-in desk empty, "huh, that's weird; where do you think they are?" Ino asked.

Sakura signed herself in and shrugged, "maybe there was an emergency. I'm sure it'll be fine, come on."

The two walked and checked the clipboards on the doors to see who was in the room. By the time they found Naruto's, he wasn't in there. Sakura put a flower in a vase on the side table. "where is that idiot?"

Ino put the bedding back in place "should we just head over to Choji then?"

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, let's go."

Choji was another hall over in the same area as Lee. Ino knocked before sliding the door open "Hey Choji." she entered, swinging the fruit basket.

Sakura entered and smiled, "Hello, Choji-kun."

Choji groaned, seeing the basket "Hi Ino, Sakura-chan. What's the basket for? Here to torment me with food?"

Ino giggled as she took an apple and bit into it "Maybe."

Sakura looked out the door before closing it "well, actually since the nurses aren't around." she tossed him an orange "we won't tell anyone."

Choji grinned and started eating as Ino rolled her eyes "You softie."

Sakura shrugged, "Just such a kind heart when it comes to my comrades. Blame my Sensei, he's very big on helping your fellow shinobi."

They talked for a bit, and Ino asked, "so where's Shikamaru I figured he would be here?"

"Oh, he was here, but he headed to check on Naruto, and then they came by before heading over to check on that Lee guy. He's down the hall apparently. They just headed over."

"Guess we can say hi to them when we go see Lee-san," Sakura said.

They said their goodbyes and headed to Lee's room as Sakura opened the door she felt a wave of danger wash over her. Her hand dropped to her kunai pouch as she took in the sight. Shikamaru was holding Gaara in place as Naruto stood there looking shaken. The two kunoichis quickly slipped in behind Naruto and Shikamaru "what's happening here?" Sakura asked as she put a hand on Naruto, feeling him shake. _'Is he scared?'_

Naruto jumped slightly, and Shikamaru groaned before explaining. "We came to check on Lee-san and found this guy trying to do something to him. Why are you two here?"

"Visiting," Ino said.

Gaara gripped his head and growled, "shut up! I need to kill. I need to validate my existence!" his sand started to move despite Shikimaru's shadow still holding him.

"Stop!" a voice boomed from the doorway. Gaara's sand stopped as he looked at the door before grabbing his head suddenly. The four genin looked over and saw Guy-sensei standing there glaring at Gaara. "A lot of you are going into the final exam; you can fight it out there."

Gaara growled and disappeared in a rush of sand. Sakura let out a breath she was holding "thank you, Guy-sensei."

He held his hand up and grinned, "don't worry about it now you lot get back to training your youth will burn with a passion the day of the exams!"

Sakura left a flower for Lee, and the group slowly dispersed while processing how Gaara just tried to kill them all. Once the shock was gone, Ino and Sakura went back to training, and in no time, the day of the third exam was upon them.


	9. Chunin Exams Arc: Final Exam

Sakura stood along with the other participants as things were about to get started, and along with Dosu from Otogakure, her teammates weren't there yet either. The arena was a lot bigger inside it than just seeing it from outside. Sakura looked around and saw Ino and the rest of the genin rookies all sitting around each other.

The participants turned as Naruto flew into the arena and slid to a stop next to Sakura, who sighed and rubbed her forehead "you just have to make an entrance, don't you Naruto?"

Naruto coughed and stood up, bruising the dirt off his jacket "Haha I just wanted to make sure no one underestimates me!"

"You certainly got their attention. Man, you're exhausting." Shikamaru said in his typical, too tired for all this tone.

"Look proud of yourselves. You're the stars of today's show." Genma said.

"What happened to Hayate-san? I thought he'd be the proctor today?" Sakura asked

"He's in the hospital. He'll be fine just a problem with his lungs he's been living with for years now." Genma pulled out a piece of paper "there's a change to the roster. Participant Dosu was dropped from the fight, so here's a new line up."

Shikamaru groaned, seeing he'd have to fight whoever won between Kankuro and Shino. "Either of them is going to be a drag to fight."

The Hokage stepped up and gave his speech before announcing the start to the third and final exam. Genma spoke, "everyone, but Neji Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki make their way to the competitor's box to wait for your round."

Sakura patted Naruto's shoulder. "Good luck Naruto beat that smug asshole for Hinata's sake."

Naruto grinned and nodded, "that's the plan."

Neji looked unimpressed as Naruto took up his position across from Neji. "you're a fool who will amount to nothing. Forfeiting now will keep you from suffering needlessly. Your destiny is not to win here."

Naruto clenched his fist "I made a promise, and I plan to keep it. I don't go back on my word, so I'm gonna kick your ass then that Gaara guy and anyone else who gets in my way!"

The match began, and Naruto immediately crossed his fingers, making ten clones who rushed Neji as he activated his Byakugan. Neji moved like water slipping between the clones and closing in on the real one. Naruto quickly substituted himself with one of his clones just before Neji struck him in the chest.

Neji turned as the real Naruto appeared on the other side of the arena. Naruto's clones rushed him with kunai and rushed Neji, attempting to at least slow him down, but it was no use; they couldn't seem to land a hit, and Neji dismantled them easily with pinpoint accuracy.

The fight dragged on like that with Naruto keeping his distance while letting clones rush and using substitution whenever Neji got too close to the real him. It was working less and less as Neji started to predict which clone Naruto was going to sub with. Naruto fell back as he and his clones threw braces of shuriken. Neji deflected them all by using his Hakkeshō Kaiten. "It's not going to work your failure! Just give up already."

Naruto growled and ran straight at Neji, who smiled and used Hakkeshō Kaiten to throw Naruto into the ground hard. Neji's stance widened, and his eyes glinted as he moved in on Naruto, who was getting up "Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms!"

Naruto felt his chakra stagnating with each consecutive hit as his chakra points were stopped by Neji's Jūken. Naruto collapsed on the ground, his body felt numb and like it weighed a ton. He couldn't get his chakra to move at all.

Neji smiled cruelly, "stay down or else. Someone like you is destined to be nothing but a failure. You won't become Hokage just because you wish for it. You're weak, and you weren't born for it. Those who have achieved the title of Hokage were destined to do so from the beginning. We can't escape our destiny; that is something I learned at a young age."

Naruto forced himself back to his feet and made the ram sign with his hands "I don't care. Destiny can go screw itself! If it's real, then it caused me to live this shitty life where my parents had to die! I hate destiny, and I'll plant it on its ass like I'm going to do to you in a minute!" Neji saw the flickers of angry red chakra surge into Naruto's system and forced itself through the blocked chakra points.

Neji stumbled back, "wha-what the hell?" Naruto crouched on all fours and disappeared. Neji barely had time to react, twisting and deflecting Naruto's punch. Neji's hands stung as Naruto reappeared on the wall clinging to it with his hands and feet.

Naruto pulled out a kunai and vanished before reappearing behind Neji, who rotated activating his Hakkeshō Kaiten throwing Naruto again. The two genin stumbled and looked winded. The Kyuubi's chakra was fading from Naruto's system, and Neji was starting to feel winded by using Hakkeshō Kaiten back to back.

Naruto grinned as he stumbled. "That all you got? Come on, I thought you were supposed to be the top genin from last year. Show me what you got, Hyuga!" Naruto ran at him with a burst of chakra as Neji performed Hakkeshō Kaiten again. Naruto's fist broke through, and he landed a solid punch on Neji's face before getting ripped away and thrown into the ground. Neji lost his balance and impacted the ground at the same time.

The stadium was silent as Neji stood up and deactivated his Byakugan as he sneered at the crumpled form of Naruto "heh see I told you that-"

Naruto puffed into smoke, and as Neji started to activate his Byakugan again, he felt the heel of Naruto's foot come down on his head. Neji's face impacted the ground hard, cracking the surface of the dirt. Naruto stumbled away and grinned madly. Genma called the match with Naruto, the winner causing the stadium to erupt into cheers.

Neji rolled over and looked at the sky as Naruto celebrated. The medics showed up and carried Neji off, and Naruto made his way back up to the participant's box. Sakura pulled Naruto into a hug, "Good work Naruto!"

Naruto blushed a bit and laughed as she let him go, "I promised I would win, and I don't go back on my word."

Shikamaru groaned, "you've gone and gotten the crowd excited. Now we're all going to have to fight harder to make an impression. This is such a drag."

Genma held his hand up "the next match will be Kankuro vs. Shino."

Kankuro held his hand up, "I forfeit my match."

There was a chorus of boos from the crowd, and Genma let it die down before saying, "alright, then Shino wins by default. The next match is Shikimaru vs. Shino."

"Ugh, I want to forfeit." Shikamaru groaned.

Naruto smacked him on the back, "Come on, Shikamaru, you gotta show off your skills if you want to become a chunin."

"One match, then I quit," Shikamaru grumbled.

"If you win," Shino said before heading down into the arena.

They watched Shikamaru and Shino fights. Sakura bit her lip. "What do you think is taking Sasuke so long? He ran from the hospital, and I don't think anyone has seen him since."

Naruto shrugged, "It's alright I'm sure he's gonna make it in time for his match." he flinched as Shikimaru substituted with a log covered in paper bombs that exploded when Shino's insects swarmed it.

Despite all his groaning and going on about how much of a drag it was, Shikumaru put up a good fight, but ultimately he was cornered by Shino and the insects he huffed and held his hands up "I surrender."

The crowd cheered, and Shino was announced the winner, and the two went back to the participant area. Naruto congratulated Shino, who took it in his usual nondescript way.

Shikamaru grumbled about not being able to handle that many opponents at once with his shadow. They all braced as a gust of wind tore in from near them, and Temari descended on her giant fan, and she looked up at Sakura. "Come on, Pinky, we're next."

Sakura growled and jumped down into the arena. The only person who cheered for her louder than Naruto was Ino. The two kunoichi stood apart as Hayata started the fourth match. Sakura immediately fell back, putting distance between them as Temari unfurled her fan to show the first star. "Doton: Doryūheki!" Sakura pulled up a wall of earth just as Temari's gust of wind was about to hit.

Sakura made four clones that ran out from either side of the wall as she sank down into the earth. Temari unfurled her fan and sent out a gust of air that tore the earth wall apart and dispersed all the clones. She looked around before it clicked, and Temari jumped on her fan to hover just as Sakura burst from the ground, barely missing Temari's ankles.

As Sakura emerged fully, Temari snapped her fan shut and brought it down. Sakura caught it with both hands and nearly buckled under the force. Sakura's hair curled, and two sections of it shot towards Temari, who twisted her fan and disengaged, falling back before the hair could cut her. "You have some moves, Pinky, but it won't be enough!"

Temari unleashed another gale force of wind that cut at Sakura and sent her flying into the trees. Sakura slid behind a trunk and braced as the winds battered her. _'Come on, Sakura, think. How am I gonna beat her.'_

Once the wind died down, Sakura threw several braces of shuriken as she stepped out and ran through the hand signs before stomping her foot on the ground "Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri!"

Temari blew all of it away as Sakura slipped into the ground and tried to grab her again, but it didn't work. Sakura pushed in close with a kunai trying to get inside the range of the giant fan. It was hard as Temari seemed to have as much practice using the weapon up close as she did from far away.

Sakura's world went black for a moment as the fan impacted the side of her head, sending her skittering across the ground. She recovered in time to brace for the winds slicing at her.

Sakura cursed and pulled kunai out while she ran for the trees, occasionally throwing them. Temari simply used her fan to swat them to the side. Sakura slid behind a tree and took a deep breath and prayed this would work. Sakura made several clones and felt the drain as they ran. She was going to run low on chakra after this plan, so if it fails... Sakura smacked her cheeks and slipped into the earth.

Temari realized they were all clones and ignored them as she prepared to jump and slam her fan down when Sakura appeared below her. As Sakura emerged, Temari brought her fan down, but it impacted wood as Sakura replaced herself with a log. "Wha- oh shit!" Temari jumped back as the log exploded, she looked over and saw the kunai all around her glow as the explosive tags wrapped around the handles went off.

Sakura pulled herself free as the explosion shook the ground. She panted and looked over to where Temari used to be. There was no sign of the Suna girl. Sakura looked around frantically for a sign of her before finally her head snapped up to see Temari twirl and unleash a gale force of wind that tore the trees apart. Sakura tumbled and tried to control her rolling, but she got the breath knocked out of her when she impacted the wall. Temari landed looking a little battered "you almost got me with that attack Pinky, good job, but this is where it ends."

Temari brought her fan down, and Sakura was barely able to roll away and get to her feet she stumbled back and groaned feeling sore, and light on chakra "I-" Sakura took a deep breath "I yield the fight."

"Huh?! We were just getting started Pinky, don't you have any more than that?"

Sakura clenched her fist "trust me, I wish I could, but I'm running low on chakra and out of ideas. I trained hard for this, but I guess not enough. I'll have to put in more effort next time."

Temari huffed and planted her fan in the ground as Genma called the match with Temari as the winner. The crowd cheered as the kunoichi made their way off the field and back to the participant's stand. Sakura waved off Naruto's concern "I'll head up to the others and cheer you guys on good luck!" she ran up to the stands and found Ino.

"Huh, I thought Hinata-chan and Kiba-kun were here too," Sakura said, sliding into the empty seat next to Ino.

"Hinata-chan's condition got worse during Naruto-Kun's fight. Kiba-Kun took her to get help, but he hasn't come back, so he's probably just keeping her company in the infirmary." Ino said, "On another note. You got thrashed, but you put up a good fight."

"Wow, thanks, Ino, that means a lot." she leaned on her friend "I'm just glad Kakashi-sensei isn't here to see it. He'd probably make me do more taijutsu training."

"That sounds like a good idea, Sakura-chan I'll be sure to make time for sparring after the exams."

Sakura glared as her sensei appeared. Her glare sharpened as Sasuke stepped out from behind him "Oh, that's where you've been I should have known Kakashi-sensei had you squirreled away somewhere. You know your match is up. You better get down there, Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded and disappeared before appearing on the arena floor. "Am I late for my match?"

Genma shook his head "right on time actually. Gaara come down, it's time for your match."

Sakura watched Sasuke as they waited for Gaara to get down to the field. Sasuke had a new set of clothes, and his hair looked like it needed a trim, but he still looked like his usual self. "Sensei, where have you two been this whole time."

He waved his hand in a noncommittal way, "oh, you know, near the village."

Guy and Lee appeared, "oh Kakashi, you're here! And it seems your students' match is about to start."

Kakashi nodded, "We made it just in time."

"On time for once, are you sure you're Kakashi Hatake?"

Kakashi looked like he was staring out into space before muttering, "there's only eight."

Guy stiffened. "The Hokage thinks it'll be enough, and besides, we're both here!"

Sakura ignored them and focused on cheering her teammate on. She could faintly hear Naruto down in the participant's area cheering as well.

Sasuke came out of the gates swinging full force. His speed caught Gaara and everyone else off guard. The sand was having trouble keeping up, and Gaara looked almost panicked as Sasuke landed several consecutive blows cracking the sand armor.

As the fight went on, a weird tension started to build amongst the shinobi present in the stands. Like they all knew something would happen at the end of this match, but no one was sure what it would be.

Gaara was put on the defensive more than usual as he formed a protective shell of sand and created some sort of eye to keep watch and direct his attacks to keep Sasuke from getting in close.

Sasuke fell back, and up the arena wall, while channeling chakra into his hand, it started to take shape like lightning arcing from his hand to the wall.

"Oh, so that's why you had him do such heavy physical training. You taught him the Chidori."

Guy went on about Kakashi's only original jutsu as Sasuke tore down the wall leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. The crowd erupted with cheers as Sasuke punched through the sand wall.

As the crowd died down, Sasuke screamed as something tried to pull him through the hole he made. Sasuke freed himself and fell back quickly as a huge monstrous hand shot forth and attempted to grab him. It quickly slithered back into its hole as an eerie silence fell over the stands.

Sakura saw the feathers and felt the foreign chakra invade her senses; she quickly made the hand sign "Kai!"

Her eyes scanned the stands seeing everyone was unconscious or fighting. There were Konoha shinobi fighting Suna and Oto shinobi all across the stands, and smoke from the east gate was billowing. She had a kunai out and thrusting forward before it fully registered an Oto shinobi was jumping at her.

The kunai slid between his ribs, and she felt the blood warm and thick as it poured from the wound and onto her hands. Sakura's attacker's body went limp and nearly fell on her, but Kakashi pushed the body to the side.

Sakura stared at the lifeless corpse; it took a moment to realize Kakashi was saying her name, "Sakura, are you ok?"

She nodded hesitantly, "Uh, y-yeah- Yes, sensei, I'm fine."

He looked at her for a moment before turning back and dispatching the Oto ninja, who came at him. "Good. Get down to the participant's area and release Naruto and whoever else then bring them back here. Be quick about it, and avoid fighting if you can. Do you understand?"

She gulped and glanced at Ino. Kakashi patted her head, "I'll keep everyone safe, I promise."

Sakura nodded, "understood sensei I'll get whoever I can and bring them back."

Up in the Kage's seating area, the Hokage looked over at the Kazekage as his men deployed smoke signals. The Hokage smiled as his bodyguard was hit with shuriken and puffed into smoke. "We knew you were coming." was all the Hokage said before puffing into smoke as well, and the entire seating area exploded.

As the invaders crossed the village walls, the Anbu hiding in the woods began flanking while the Jonin fought them head-on, and the rest of the shinobi evacuated the civilians.

Sakura slipped out of the stands and took the back stairs on her way. She heard some struggling in a supply closet and cracked it open to check. Sakura fell on her back as a small white dog jumped on her growling "Akamaru?!" she looked past him as he calmed down and saw Kiba tied up.

A few moments later, Kiba was untied, and Sakura filled him in on her mission as they moved quickly, and quietly it looked like there was only fighting in the stands and that the back hallways were clear. They found Shikamaru, Shino, and Naruto laying on the floor unharmed. Kiba released Shino while Sakura got Naruto. Akamaru chomped down on Shikamaru's ankle.

Shikamaru stopped pretending and looked annoyed as he sat up. Sakura saw the slightly horrified look on Naruto's face. "What's wrong, Naruto?"

"Y-your hands are uh covered in blood."

The others seemed to notice it as well Sakura hadn't even realized it was there. "I- uh, it's nothing I had to fight an Oto shinobi before coming here. He's... dead. Come on, we need to get back to Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura did her best to ignore their eyes on her as they got back to her sensei. There was a newly made hole in the wall and more Oto and Suna shinobi than last time. Kakashi nodded as they approached and summoned Pakkun. "This is Pakkun, he'll lead you to Sasuke, who's pursuing the three Suna genin. Go help him, and once the enemy is dealt with, find somewhere safe to hide and wait for further orders."

The five genin affirmed their orders and followed Pakkun through the hole in the wall. They set a face pace as Pakkun informed them of the number of people Sasuke was pursuing. The sounds of fighting started to fade as they passed the village's wall and headed into the woods. After some time, Pakkuns head twitches back, and he growled low before speaking, "there's a pursuit team after us. Eight... no Nine Shinobi behind us, they're a way off but gaining."

Shikamaru groaned, "probably chunin at the least. This is such a pain."

"We can't outrun them, we could try an ambush. It will make it harder to catch up to Sasuke, but at least we'd actually have the chance to." Sakura said as they kept their pace. She was technically the team leader, but it felt odd she had never been in charge before, and it didn't feel quite right.

"I don't think that's a good idea. You, Shino, and I are low on chakra, Naruto is- well, he's Naruto."

"Oi Shut it, Shikamaru!"

"My point made, and we have Kiba, who doesn't have any equipment."

Kiba petter Akamaru "don't need any when I've got Akamaru with me."

Shikamaru sighed and rubbed his face like this was all too much effort. "We wouldn't stand a chance even with an ambush. Our best bet is to have someone stay back and buy as much time as possible to let the others get away and hopefully let the pursuit team lose the trail."

The group staggered to a stop and looked around at each other. Sakura took a shaky breath seeing the eyes of the man she had killed earlier before she spoke, "whoever does it is going to die. If they're all chunin, none of us will last long."

Shino was unreadable, Kiba looked torn while Naruto looked ready to volunteer. Shikamaru grabbed all their attention with a loud groan as he cracked his neck. "This is such a drag, but I am the best suited. Suppose I'll have to do it then... get going before I chicken out alright."

Sakura looked him in the eyes and nodded "be careful and... bail if you think you'll die. That's an order from your team leader."

Shikamaru waved them off lazily as he dropped to the ground, and the group got moving again. They traveled in silence and started to close the distance between Sasuke and them. When the explosions erupted from ahead, they kicked it up a notch and got to him as he was avoiding explosive tags and ninja wire. He looked over his shoulder as they approached, "What are you all doing here?"

Sakura stopped and assessed the situation; it was only Temari here keeping him at bay. "Kakashi-sensei gave us a mission to help you take the enemy you're pursuing down."

Sasuke smirked, "and he put you in charge?"

Sakura blushed and clenched her fist. "Yeah, he did ya got an issue with that?"

"No, considering the options available." he looked at Naruto. "It was the right call."

A gust of wind blasted the area, and Temari snapped her fan shut, "Don't think just because there's more of you that you'll be able to get past me."

Everyone prepared for a fight, but Kiba held a hand up. "You all go on ahead, don't let the others get away. I'll take her down and join up with you."

They looked to Sakura, who nodded, "be careful and try not to die."

Kiba grinned as Akamaru hopped off his head "will do Taichou."

As they moved past Temari as Kiba and Akamaru did their man-beast transformation and engaged her in combat. Once they were away from the fight, Sakura asked 'How many are we following, and who are they?"

"It's just that Kankuro guy and Gaara. Gaara was injured from our fight, but he'll still be the biggest threat. There's something... off about him and his powers, we'll need to be cautious with him."

"Alright, Shino, do you think you'll be able to take out Kankuro on your own?" Sakura asked.

Shino nodded, "I've seen how he fights. I am confident I can win against him."

"Alright, I'll leave him to you. I get the feeling it's going to take a lot to take Gaara down, so the three of us will have to hope we're enough."

Naruto grinned "oh, don't worry so much, Sakura! We'll be able to take them out, no problem."

It didn't take long for them to run across Kankuro; they didn't even slow down except for Shino, who immediately engaged him in a fight. Sakura heard Kankuro curse as they sped past him, heading straight for Gaara.

Temari jumped up into the branches of above as one of her two attackers barreled into the ground. She had managed to alter one of their courses, but they were attacking from two different sides, and it was hard to do that wide of an area with the chakra she had left.

Kankuro cursed his luck and hoped Gaara had enough sense to keep running until he was ready to let his demon loose on Konoha. Kankuro quickly deployed Crow hoping to end this fight fast and get back to his terrifying younger brother.

Sakura tried not to curse as Sasuke kept pouring on the speed. "Slow down, Sasuke, we're going to catch up to him. Like you said, he's dangerous. We'll need all the strength we can get."

Sasuke gritted his teeth but fell back to their pace "I have a bad feeling that we're going to be too late to stop their plan."

"Pft doesn't matter, we'll beat them no matter their plan," Naruto said as Pakkun stopped.

The pug sniffed, "he's dead ahead. Something fowl is on the wind, so be careful pups."

Sakura patted his head, "thank you, Pakkun; we'll be careful."

They moved in closing the distance but staggered to a stop as they saw Gaara he looked... wrong. His arm was enlarged and the color of sand with spiky protrusions, and it didn't stop on his arm. Half his body was covered like that. He was staggering and practically foaming at the mouth, calling for blood and death.

He turned and immediately locked onto Sasuke, who dove to the side as Gaara's hand extended at a frightening speed nearly shattered the tree it hit. Sakura realized as they moved to avoid Gaara's attacks that he was aiming for Sasuke the whole time, he showed almost no interest in either her or Naruto unless it was to swat them aside so that he could pursue Sasuke. "Sasuke, just keep him running, Naruto help me try to slow him down."

They nodded, and Sasuke slipped his kunai away, and Naruto made a handful of clones. They rushed Gaara from all sides, but he was too fast, and his transformed arm tore through them all in a single swipe. Gaara's arm absorbed Sakura's shuriken and fired them back at her. She nearly avoided all of them, but her arm flared in pain as two of them embedded themselves in her upper right arm.

Sakura stumbled and kneeled, pulling them out. She didn't think he would come after her, but she was wrong. Gaara was in front of her in an instant calling for blood as hers ran cold. Sakura poured as much chakra into reinforcing her body as she could just as his transformed hand impacted her sending her flying.

She impacted the ground hard, and blackness consumed her vision as everything felt like everything was broken. Naruto's cries and Sasuke's curse were faded and distant as she fell unconscious.

Sasuke and Naruto regrouped as Gaara started to pursue them. His interest in Sakura gone as she didn't put up enough of a fight. "Keep him busy Dead Last, I'll hit him with a Chidori and end it."

Naruto wanted to protest, but they needed to end this quickly and get Sakura somewhere safe. "Fine, but if it doesn't work, it's my turn to try and take him down."

"Ha fine if I fail you can try as much as you want, now come on we need to take him down."

They split Naruto, making ten clones while Sasuke tried to disappear into the surroundings. The clones rushed Gaara from all sides with more care this time, trying to avoid Gaara's massive arm and the tail he had sprouted after throwing Sakura.

Most of his clones were quickly taken down, but it created an opening that let Sasuke rush in and delivered a Chidori shot to Gaara's arm, reducing it to a sand pile. Gaara screamed in agony, and his tail whipped around and smashed Sasuke into a tree trunk as his arm reformed.

His tail morphed and turned into a hand that pinned Sasuke to the tree "You're all just so weak! Is there nothing that can satisfy me?!" Gaara screamed as more of his body was covered in sand and morphed into a monstrous state. Gaara's tail detached a chunk of sand, leaving it to hold Sasuke in place as he stumbled around before firing off shuriken made of sand at the rest of Naruto's clones.

Naruto tried to pull the fight away from his two teammates using his limited futon and his clones though the former didn't have much effect when put against Gaara's wind attacks. Naruto was thrown around and battered from all sides by the unrelenting attacks, and his clones couldn't get in close or overwhelm Gaara, who constantly blasted wide area of effect attacks.

Gaara was getting more and more frustrated as Naruto avoided him for the most part and simply peppered him with clones and shuriken. He managed to get in close by making clones and substituting himself with them as he was about to be hit and planted two paper bombs on Gaara's back that quickly exploded. The blast threw him into a tree trunk, and Naruto staggered back to his feet, feeling drained as the smoke cleared, and Gaara's half exploded self was on his knees.

Sasuke appeared next to him, panting and covered in black markings. "Sorry I'm late, Dead Last. I moved Sakura somewhere safe after I got out."

Naruto grinned "Kakashi-sensei is rubbing off on you. I expected you here thirty seconds ago."

Sasuke huffed "now isn't the time for lame jokes. He's getting back up, we need to take him down quickly."

Naruto held a hand up "it's fine. I got this. I swore to become Hokage one day, which means I'll need to protect everyone. You just sit back and see how much I've trained."

Sasuke watched in bewilderment as Naruto seemed to explode with chakra, and the trees suddenly filled with Naruto shadow clones. They rushed the still recovering Gaara and delivered a combo move that ended with several hundred kicks to his stomach, making him hit the ground hard enough to leave an impact crater.

Sakura stirred and woke to the sound of thunder, and the feeling of the earth-shaking she looked up bleary-eyed as a huge pale monster covered in blue markings was stabbed by a giant toad. "O-oh, I'm still unconscious. I'm dreaming, obviously."

Sasuke grunted as his markings receded, "afraid not. Naruto is up there taking on that... thing that Gaara has become."

Before Sakura could really process what was happening, Sasuke tensed as someone approached but relaxed when it was just Kiba and Shino dragging unconscious and tied up Temari and Kankuro. "Yo- what the hell is that?!" Kiba said, noticing the fight going on.

Sasuke gave them the short version, and the group sat there unable to do much.

Naruto made the signs and channeled the chakra for a transformation jutsu as Gamabunta jumped at Shukaku. When the smoke cleared, the toad was replaced with a huge orange fox with nine swirling tails, and Naruto heard the voice of the Kuybi laughing. "It's a wonderful likeness, but it's not quite right. Why don't you just let me out, and I'll show you how I really look?"

 _'Shut it ya damn fox!'_ Naruto squatted and got ready to jump as Gamabunta held Shukaku in place. Naruto sprung forward and punched Gaara's face, shattering his sand armor and making Shukaku stop his movements.

Sakura and the others watched as the demon fox changed back into the toad and started to get pushed back by Shukaku. They all felt the explosion of chakra and saw the red mist on top of Gamabunta. A single thunderous crack echoed down from the giants, and Shukaku cracked and crumbled to dust.

Naruto fell into the tree line. The team grabbed their prisoners and moved to find him. Once they found him, Sasuke tied up Gaara while Sakura and Kiba helped Naruto sit up and lean against a tree. "Thanks, I'm beat I don't think I have any more chakra in me."

Sakura patted his shoulder "good job Naruto. Now-" she stopped as the Suna siblings woke up, and Kankuro and Temari immediately struggled and looked around at each other.

"Damn it, I guess we lost didn't we sis," Kankouro said.

Temari looked panicked as she saw Gaara knocked out and tied up "Y-yeah they- they beat Gaara."

Sakura stood over them "we have orders to deal with you. My sensei wasn't very clear on whether that meant prisoners or not."

The Suna siblings got the idea right away, not that Sakura actually felt like she could do it, but she also didn't think it was right to make the others do it either. Temari spoke up first, "please, we were just doing as we were told. We didn't have a choice. If you're going to kill someone for all this, let it be me. Please let my brothers go."

Sakura felt the pit in her stomach grow, but she set her jaw and looked at the others who looked back at her. Sasuke spoke first. "Like you said, Sakura Kakashi put you in charge, so it's your choice what to do."

That didn't make her feel better. She tried not to wince as pain in her ribs flared; something was definitely broken. "We can't manage three prisoners in our state; we're all exhausted or beat up, an-and." she stopped herself, not wanting to say it.

She pulled out a Kunai and freed Temari and Kankuro. "Run and don't ever show yourselves again. I don't care what you do, but don't ever step foot in the Land of Fire or else."

They looked horrified and relieved at the same time as they grabbed their little brother and ran without another word. Sasuke kept Sakura from falling over as she nearly collapsed "We should be able to find a patrol station or something in these woods." Sakura said as she let her teammate support her.

It took almost an hour, but they found one of the little huts used by the patrol route. A chunin showed up as they approached, "Halt! Pass Phrase!"

Sakura started the phrase, "A flower bud ready to burst."

"A flower in full bloom," the chunin responded.

"Gentle as a falling leaf."

"Sturdy as the tree that bore it."

"This is the cycle."

"This is life" Sakura ended it feeling woozy as she leaned on Sasuke more.

The chunin nodded and motioned to approach, "What are a bunch of genin doing out here?"

"A mission from our sensei he wanted us to track and capture some enemies, but... They got away." Sasuke said, helping Sakura lay on the cot inside.

The chunin nodded, "I'll send a message once my partners get back, and hopefully, someone will be able to get here soon and get you back to the village."

Time seemed to crawl by as they waited for anything to happen. Eventually, after nearly three hours, the all-clear signal was sent out, and a team showed up to help the injured genin team back to the village. The news about the Hokage spread fast, and everyone knew within a couple of days.

The funeral was held, and clean up started. Naruto was in the hospital for chakra exhaustion, Sasuke had a few fractures and low chakra levels but nothing as severe as Sakura who had several broken ribs. Everyone visited them in waves. Ino and Hinata showed up at the same time to see Sakura, who took the chance to convince Hinata to see Naruto. Ino agreed to help push her along.


	10. Recovery Arc: Rebuild and Recover

Repairs to the village progressed quickly, and Naruto was the first to be discharged shortly, followed by Sasuke, both of whom were quickly sent to start helping the removal of debris and weapons left over from the fighting. Sakura cursed her luck that she would be the one to end up in the hospital the longest. Her team visited whenever they weren't busy helping repairs or taking on D rank missions they could complete without a full team. Ino visited as often as she could and always seemed a little annoyed, and after some time, Sakura decided Ino was going to be difficult and not tell her what was up.

"It's not like you to be so quiet when you're not happy about something. What's wrong?"

Ino fiddled with her hands before sighing, "You ran off on a mission during all of that and left me under a genjutsu. I get that I didn't have my equipment, but you could have at least woken me up. I came to, and all the fighting had stopped. I didn't even get a chance to try and help the fight. I was just a body that had to be protected."

Sakura flexed her hands, they were clean now, but she still remembers how the blood felt. She knew they would all eventually take their first kill. Sakura just never thought it'd be inside the village she lived in. They had been taught and desensitized to the idea of death and killing, but it was all talk and ideas until someone actually did it. She had felt proud for just a moment when she did it. She had aimed well enough that it was a clean stab and a quick death, but her pride turned to shock when she felt the blood and saw the dead eyes staring at her. "I-I'm sorry I didn't think about bringing you back. It was all going by so fast I broke the genjutsu and killed the shinobi that jumped at me, and then Kakashi-sensei was giving me a mission to get Naruto and assemble a team. I feel kinda like I had just gone on autopilot and grabbed whoever I saw when I got Naruto up. I know it's not an excuse, but that's all I got."

"So it's true you're probably the first of the rookies to actually kill someone. I get that things were moving fast, so how about you make it up to me and buy me some sweets when you're out of the hospital?"

"Pft, aren't you supposed to be the one getting me sweets once I'm out?"

"Normally I would, but you owe me, so that's that. Now get some rest, you're gonna be discharged soon, but you still need to recover. I'll be back next time I have time."

Sakura nodded, "Yes, yes, I know."

Once Ino was gone, Sakura laid back and closed her eyes. Everything had calmed down, but she was still worried. Her parents were days past when they were initially going to return, and no one had informed her about an update. A lot was going on, so she figured it was just lost in the paperwork if there was an update. It's not like missions don't get extended all the time, and she certainly is glad they were out of the village when this all happened. She just wished they would show up and start pestering her about whether she ate properly while they were gone and fussing over her in their usual annoying but loving way.

Another two days passed, and the hospital released Sakura; and she was slated to help with light repair work the next day with her teammates, but today she was on her way to get Ino and buy her apology sweets. Sakura was walking the streets when she saw Sasuke tearing across the rooftops. She jumped up and matched his pace, "Sasuke, what are you doing?"

He came to a sudden stop, "have you seen Naruto?"

Sakura saw the frantic look in his eyes but shook her head. "No, I haven't seen him at all in the- Hey!" she ran after him, "what's got you so on edge?"

He bit his lip and looked back. "My brother is back, and he's looking for Naruto. We need to get to him before Itachi does."

Sakura nodded shakily, "alright, I'll help you look." Sasuke hadn't told them much about his older brother other than that he was the one who killed his clan and that Sasuke had made it his life's goal to kill Itachi and avenge his people.

It took some time, but they met up, and Sasuke had found where they went. As they ran for the gate, Sakura stopped and looked at the chunin checking people in. "Tell Kakashi Hatake his student Naruto Uzumaki is in danger; the rest of Team Seven is heading out to help him!"

She had to pour on the chakra to get enough speed to catch up to Sasuke, who looked back, "Why'd you stop?"

"I had to tell someone we were leaving. I don't know if Kakashi-sensei will get the message in time, but it'll be better than no one knowing we left."

Sasuke turned away, "You think ahead more than that idiot or myself sometimes."

Sakura shrugged, "someone has to try and keep this team from jumping before they look."

They got to the town where Teuchi said Naruto and Jiraiya were headed. "Alright, let's split up and check everywhere," Sasuke said before dashing off into the crowd.

Sakura hopped on the roofs to get a better view of the streets and started looking for her teammate or Jiraiya. After about ten minutes, she spotted him with his arm around some woman and Naruto, not insight. Sakura jumped down, startling the people in the streets. "Jiraiya-sama! We've got trouble, Naruto is in danger!"

Jiraiya choked on his drink and looked over, "oh, it's you! Uh, Sakura-chan, right? What are you doing all the way out here." He placed his hand on the woman next to him and made the sign for releasing a genjutsu making her slump over in her chair.

Sakura looked shocked but shook it off. "Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto, and I's teammate heard his brother was back and looking for Naruto. Where is he?"

Jiraiya was out of his chair and had the unconscious woman over one shoulder while he grabbed Sakura and threw her over his other. She protested being picked up like that but stopped as he moved faster than she had ever seen before and burst in through the window of a hotel while summoning a toad and giving some speech that Sakura mostly ignored as she got off his shoulder.

Sakura took in the sight quickly, seeing Sasuke on the floor behind two cloaked figures, one of which had the Sharingan and a Konoha headband with a missing-nin mark. Naruto looked panicked as a toad kept the other cloaked figure from slamming a strange looking sword down onto Naruto.

Naruto looked back in surprise, "Pervy Sage! Sakura too, what are you doing here?"

"Sasuke and I came here together to find you and keep you safe, but we're too late."

Things moved quickly as Sasuke staggered back to his feet and tried to attack his brother, but it was over as fast as it started. Itachi completely demolished Sasuke dealing blow after blow to his younger brother, finally ending it with Sasuke being slammed into the wall as his brother whispered in his ear before making eye contact.

Sasuke's scream made Sakura freeze on the spot and watch as Naruto ran past the other cloaked figure to try and save Sasuke. She felt the floor get squish and looked down to see some kind of fleshy material coat the floor and everything else.

Kisame and Itachi made a run for it, not even trying to fight or grab Naruto. While Jiraiya and Naruto ran after them, Sakura stumbled over the fleshy floor and checked on Sasuke, who was sunk into the wall.

Sakura was able to catch him as the flesh receded, and she laid Sasuke down, doing her best to check his condition and do first aid. Once the others came back, she looked up. "He's not conscious, and he's got some pretty bad injuries-" a kunai thunked into the wall above her head, and a blur of green shot into the building, landing a solid kick on Jiraiya.

Guy-sensei apologized and put Sasuke on his back. "I'll get him back to the hospital. Sakura-chan, you come along as well. You two ran out of the village without warning."

Sakura nodded, "I'm sorry we were in a hurry."

They said their goodbyes and headed back to the village. Once they were back, Sasuke was admitted to the hospital. Sakura sat in the Hokage tower and was scolded Iruka-sensei; apparently, he was the best at reprimanding shinobi when they did something stupid like running out of the village without permission.

Along with Sasuke, she was put on suspension until the higher-ups could speak to Kakashi about his genin and would have the incident added to their records. Once they were done with her, Sakura was set free. She wandered around aimlessly as she thought about what had happened. Yet again, she felt like she should have done more and could have done more if she had been more serious from the start.

Her thoughts grinded to a halt as a purple outfit and platinum blonde hair filled her vision. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you."

Sakura focused on Ino "uh, I'm sorry I-I got distracted. Something came up with my team, and I just got back."

"Got back from what?"

"Let's go find somewhere to sit."

They found a small shop and ordered some tea and sweets while Sakura told Ino the gist. "So yeah, I'm on suspension till they can talk to Kakashi-sensei, but he's apparently out cold as well, so I have no idea when that will be."

"You're getting punished for trying to help your teammate that's messed up," Ino said, setting her tea down.

"It makes sense, though. There are rules for a reason, and it's honestly a miracle it wasn't worse. I just hope Naruto and Jiraya-sama's mission is successful, whatever it is."

Ino reached over and squeezed Sakura's hand, "Hey, come on, we'll keep training, and you'll keep getting better."

"I appreciate that, but I feel like I need more. I need someone who can teach me and help me get better. Kakashi-sensei has helped some. I know my taijutsu wouldn't be as good if it wasn't for him, but it's not enough, you know. I need something more."

"I think you should talk to your sensei then once he's back awake, and see what you can find. I'll be here whenever to help you out with whatever you need."

Sakura smiled, "thanks, Ino..." she scratched her neck "do you mind staying over tonight."

Ino smiled, "of course not. Your parents still aren't back, are they?"

Sakura shook her head as she paid, "No, and with the attack and trying to organize and recover, I haven't been able to get an update on their status."

Ino took her hand and pulled her along. "It'll be ok, don't worry. come on, I need to pack some stuff if I'm gonna go stay with you for a bit."

"Ino, I only asked about tonight."

"Yeah, but you're my best friend, and it's fun to sleep over at your place."

Sasuke woke up and almost screamed, but his throat felt raw and numb at the same time. He looked around and saw Kakashi sitting nearby reading. Kakashi snapped the book shut. "You're awake."

"Where-"

"Hospital, and before you ask your brother ran, we don't know where. Jiraya-sama sent us a messenger toad with the details."

Sasuke cursed and looked at his clenched fist feeling weaker than ever before. "You and Sakura are also being put on suspension for two weeks. This will go on your record. You left the village borders without permission."

"That's fair."

Kakashi just hummed and stood. "Once you're out, you and Sakura are going to be doing intensive training. Since you don't have anything better to do with your time now, be sure to get plenty of rest."

Sakura was informed of her fate for the next two weeks around dinner time, "Are you going to be the one training us, sensei?"

He nodded from his place in the doorway, "yes, I will be."

"What about Naruto? He's out on whatever mission with Jiraiya-sama."

"Jiraiya-sama is teaching Naruto and keeping him safe, so you don't need to worry. Be sure to eat well and get some rest. We start at five in the morning tomorrow." With that, he left her to run back inside and pick up Ino, who was cooking.

"Oh, wow, ok! What happened?"

"Kakashi-sensei came by and said since Sasuke and I can't do missions, we're doing two weeks of intensive training, and Kakashi-sensei is actually going to be the one to train us." Sakura set Ino down, who smiled and continued her cooking.

"That's great. You'll get the extra training you wanted, and maybe it'll help you find that missing piece that will help you catch up to your teammates."

Sakura couldn't stop smiling as she helped finish up dinner. "It's gonna be great, and with you staying here being the best friend ever, these two weeks are looking to be good."


	11. Recovery Arc: Intensive training

Sakura was up early, ate, and headed out to the training field where she found Sasuke already waiting. "So did you get here recently or-"

He rolled his eyes, "no, I didn't spend the night here training. I ditched the hospital this morning and just got here."

Sakura laughed, "You're starting to be too much like Sensei."

"Please don't joke like that."

"Oh, I think it's sweet, one of my cute genin is imitating me," Kakashi said, appearing near them.

Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other surprised, and Kakashi cocked his eyebrow, "what are those looks for?"

"Uh well, Sensei-" Sakura started to say.

"You're on time for once," Sasuke said.

"Hm well, we're going to start training now, so come at me with whatever you have."

They jumped back right away, putting distance between them and their sensei. Sakura looked to Sasuke, who nodded and ran through the hand signs "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" He spit a massive fireball towards Kakashi obscuring his vision of them. Kakashi countered the fireball with his own meanwhile, Sakura made several clones before dropping into the earth.

The clones ran around the fireballs as they dissipated, Sasuke charged down the middle. He noticed Kakashi's left eye was still covered. The two engaged in taijutsu, and Sakura's clones ran in, and Kakashi wasted no time throwing kunai to make them all disappear. Sasuke went in for a high kick as Sakura burst from the ground poised to deliver a strike.

Kakashi sidestepped and smacked Sasuke into Sakura, sending the two tumbling to the ground, "I taught you that Sakura, it won't work on me."

They untangled themselves, and Sakura groaned. "Yeah, I should have thought about that more. I'll be sure to fool you next time, Kakashi-sensei."

Sasuke and Sakura decided on another forward assault, and the two alternated, trying to land a hit on their sensei. Sakura fell back. "Doton: Doryūheki"

Kakashi looked surprised when three earth walls appeared around him. Sakura stumbled but managed to throw a brace of shuriken as Sasuke from above cast another fireball. The smoke cleared, and Kakashi was gone.

Sakura immediately jumped and left an explosive tag on the ground that exploded, but Kakashi didn't appear below her but instead almost got Sasuke, who was quick enough to jump away. "I fell for that once. I won't let it happen again, sensei." he landed by one of the charred walls but wasn't ready for when the hands sticking out of the ground popped in a puff of smoke and foot shot out of the wall and kicked Sasuke into the other wall.

Kakashi stepped out, "You still have a long way to go, my dear genin. Now come on the fight isn't done yet keep it coming."

Sasuke and Sakura didn't last even ten minutes longer, though, Kakashi did say afterward, they're doing leagues better than when they first graduated. Sasuke and Sakura leaned against each other's backs, both feeling exhausted. Their sensei walked up "come, we're not yet. Time for a little run; we're borrowing one of Gai's training exercises, so we'll be doing laps around the village."

They groaned but got up and followed their sensei. It didn't take long to realize they would need to ration their remaining chakra to reinforce their bodies during the run. Sakura wasn't sure how long they ran, but Sasuke seemed to have overestimated himself because of his chunin exam training and poured a little too much power into speed and found himself burning out and collapsing. Sakura made it a whole two steps past him before falling over, feeling like she had no chakra left in her system. Kakashi showed up and looked at the two of them "alright kiddos, one hour break, then whoever gets to the training field first gets lunch for free. The other will have to work for theirs."

Sakura lost the race back after denying Sasuke's idea to let her win other than bugging the hell out of her that he would suggest it. She also knew that the enemy wouldn't relax or go easy on her. Kakashi had them punching and kicking the training post and throwing kunai and shuriken at targets. Once midday was approaching, Kakashi laid out Sakura's punishment for not winning earlier. She had to do another lap around the village but without using chakra, and Kakashi stressed that he would know if she did. She managed it barely and was rewarded with having to pay for her own lunch. It felt odd for the team to be eating ramen without Naruto around, but once they were done, Kakashi had them back at it with more weapons training by introducing them to Tanto's and having them learn basic forms for the rest of the day.

Once it was well after sunset, Sakura entered her house and laid on the floor after taking her shoes off. She groaned and didn't even flinch as Ino poked her side. "Yo, how was your training?"

Sakura groaned, "everything hurts, and my chakra is almost gone. I think I'll just sleep here."

"Oh, cool, so I can steal your bed then." Ino crouched down next to her and poked her ribs

Sakura didn't even squirm; she just nodded, "yep, go ahead and have it. I'm just gonna melt into the floorboards."

"How about a bath because frankly, you smell. I'll make some dinner while you do that."

Sakura held a hand up, limply, "Help me up."

With some groaning and a few choice curses towards her body, Sakura was back up and made her way to the bath. The next two days were similar, with Kakashi pushing them to their physical limits and keeping them from resting for too long. On the fourth day, Kakashi nodded, "good progress. We'll be doing a rest day so just try to meditate a few times today."

"You had us get up at five in the morning to tell us we weren't gonna train today?" Sasuke said.

"Waking up so early is part of the training. Now run along with my cute genin, enjoy your rest."

Once he was gone, Sakura looked at Sasuke, "any idea what to do?"

Sasuke rubbed his neck. "I'm going back to sleep."

"Um- how is the uh curse mark doing?"

Sasuke tensed but relaxed quickly "it's doing fine. Kakashi-sensei seal helps to keep it from hurting."

"That's good. Well, I'm gonna go back home and crash as well, so I'll see you tomorrow Sasuke."

"See you tomorrow."

The days went by, and once the second week was about to start, Kakashi smiled in a way that they started to hate "Today we start survival training. I want you to run into the woods. You have thirty minutes, and you need to avoid being captured by me for the rest of the day. If you are captured, I'll tie you to a post where the other can rescue you. You lose if you're both captured or if one of you is still captured by the end of the day. You start now."

Kakashi made several shadow clones as Sakura and Sasuke ran into the woods. "We should split up, minimize how much presence we have in one spot, and find a hiding place," Sasuke said.

Sakura nodded, and the two split in opposite directions, both making some clones to run off in various directions to hopefully stall Kakashi. Sakura pulled her chakra in tight and stepped as lightly as she could while looking for a place to hide. She climbed into the top branches of a thicker tree and kept her presence as small as possible. Meanwhile, Sasuke slipped into the water among a patch of reeds.

Kakashi's clones moved through the woods as the original sat on one of the training posts with a book out. "Hm, they're hiding pretty well, but not well enough." the sounds of fighting broke out near the water and woods. He wasn't too surprised to see one of his clones coming back with Sakura tied up and thrown over his shoulder though she was making it difficult by flailing about and trying to kick his face.

"You did a decent job of suppressing your chakra and overall presence, but it wasn't enough."

"Thank you, sensei," she said while trying to fight against his clone, tying her to a post.

He sighed, looking down at her. "You could stop struggling so much."

She grinned as she kicked the clone in the stomach and cut through her bindings. Sakura tried to scramble away, but Kakashi grabbed her and had her tied to the post in no time and had also confiscated the small blade she had used to cut her ropes.

Sasuke stopped surveying the area and making sure he was alone before doubling back. He had heard fighting in the woods and needed to make sure Sakura didn't get caught. Sasuke sighed to himself, seeing her kick one of the Kakashi's and try to run, but she eventually got caught and was tied to the post next to the one Kakashi himself was sitting on. He thought about how to get her free. A distraction might be best to draw the clones, and then he can try to cut her free then buy time fighting Kakashi before running for it.

He fell back into the woods to set up his distraction. Once it was ready, he triggered the explosion. Sasuke took a long arc to get back to Kakashi and Sakura. He saw the clones running off towards the explosion. Sasuke threw a brace of shuriken at Kakashi as he moved around the opening. Kakashi easily blocked them and stood up, his eye scanning the tree line. Another brace of shuriken flew out of the trees, followed by Sasuke with a Chidori crackling in his hand. As Sasuke ran past, he threw a kunai into the post Sakura was tied to.

Kakashi fell back, narrowly avoiding Sasuke's Chidori "my own move against me? I see how that feels now."

Sasuke was doing his best to buy time while Sakura used the kunai to break free. Once she was free, she threw the kunai at Kakashi "Sasuke, I'm good, let's go!"

Sasuke threw down smoke bombs, and the two ran for it again. Sticking together this time. "Let's get farther away from the post. Hopefully, there will be a better place to hide." Sakura said.

They managed to survive for another hour with Sasuke getting captured and Sakura rescuing him before both were caught on their retreat back into the woods. Once they were declared the losers of the exercise, Kakashi told them where to improve and what they did well.

Kakashi made them practice and practice at erasing their presence and how to cover their tracks. The training didn't last as long as the previous days though he did preface they'd be doing it again for two more days. They had varying amounts of success in those two days.

The last days went by with varying amounts of chakra exercises and physical exercises where charka was forbidden. Once the two weeks were up, Kakashi let them rest for two days before starting D rank missions again until they got word Naruto was back from his mission and heading straight for the Hokage Tower, so they decided to meet him there. Sakura was surprised to see who was traveling with Jiraiya-sama and Naruto. "Wow, they're pretty," she muttered.

Sasuke side-eyed her "yeah... who are they, though?"

Naruto spotted them and ran over "hey! You're alright, Sasuke! Wow, you two look like you put on some muscles, what happened?"

Sakura sighed. "In our stupid attempt to save you, we got put on suspension, and Kakashi-sensei had us go through intensive training during that period. It was... rough but worth it." she grinned. "I bet I could beat you in a one on one fight, Naruto."

He looked shocked but smiled, "oh, that's awesome, but it sucks you got in trouble you didn't do anything wrong." he seemed to get an idea and looked back. "Hey, Tsunade-baasan, I got a favor to ask!"

The blond woman clenched her fist, "oh, another favor? How about you stop calling me a granny and show some respect."

It clicked in Sakura's head, and she grabbed Sasuke's shoulder, making him tense "Oh, that's- You're Tsunade Senju! One of the Sannin like Jiraiya-sama. You're a huge inspiration to kunoichi and those in the medical field."

Tsunade smiled and seemed to get an ego boost "yes, I am. It's good to see someone who actually respects me."

Naruto groaned, "come on, Baasan, they got in trouble for helping me when we got attacked by that weird shark guy, and-" he stopped looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke looked away, "my brother."

Tsunade shot a glare at Jiraiya, who grinned sheepishly and backed off. She sighed, "I'll see what I can do, but first the hospital, I suppose, so I can look at your friend."

"Wait, why are you here, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked.

"She's been selected to be the Fifth Hokage apparently," Naruto said, looking annoyed.

They processed that information as the group headed to the hospital, but the team wasn't allowed into Lee's room with Guy and Tsunade. As they stood around outside the room waiting, Sakura said, "so how was the trip? Anything crazy after that whole event we were part of?"

Naruto grinned and started going on about his training and how he fought Kabuto and how he turned out to be a spy the whole time, and he saw Orochimaru's real face and saw the three Sannin fight, and big sis Shizune. Sasuke held his curse mark at the mention of Orochimaru. They saw Lee leave his room without a word; he didn't even stop to say anything as they greeted him. Once Tsunade exited and looked at them and made a shoeing motion, "Naruto, don't you have somewhere to be?"

He seemed to realize he had forgotten, "Oh yeah, I gotta go see Iruka-sensei! You guys wanna come with me?"

Neither of them agreed, and three left the hospital, splitting up at the entrance.


	12. Recovery Arc: Rescue Mission

The village was starting to look like its old self again, and the Fifth Hokage was officially announced and inducted in the following days. Tsunade's rock portrait was started, and things began to get organized and flow smoother now that the hierarchy was back in order. Team Seven was back on the duty roster at full strength. As they were standing around at the mission desk, Tsunade came in and looked them over, her eyes stopping on Sakura "Sakura Haruno."

Sakura straightened. "U-um yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Your parent's team was deployed on an escort and protection mission before the Chunin Exams. They should have returned before the attack, and yet they're still not back. Apparently, we received a few updates since their mission went over its due date. The latest is a week old. The message was a request for a team to come extract them and the client from the Land of Hot Springs."

Sakura stumbled back, processing the information. A week since a request for extraction would mean they could be in over their heads and needed to get out as soon as possible. If worse came to worse, they could be- Her thoughts stopped spiraling as her teammates put their hands on her shoulders, steadying her. "Ar- why are you giving us so much detail on it, ma'am?"

She sat down and pulled out a mission scroll. "Because it was a B rank mission, I really shouldn't be giving this to a team of your ranking, but we're short-staffed. My Jonin and Chunin are all very busy, and all three of you apparently made it to the last exam in the Chunin Exams. I read your reports on the impromptu A-rank mission to track down the Suna genin who were trying to unleash a... monster in the village. With that all in mind, I think you can handle it."

Sakura fidgeted, "Um Ma'am, are you sure it's ok for me to be on this mission? They're my parents, and that being said, my judgment may be compromised."

Tsunade smiled and leaned back. "It's because Naruto spoke so highly of you earlier that I am giving you this chance, and your concern right now is another indication that I think you will be able to perform your mission no matter the outcome. Now, will you accept the B rank mission to rescue Team Haruno and their client?"

Sakura looked at her team, who all nodded to her, and she turned back to Tsunade. "Y-Yes Hokage-sama, we will accept this mission."

Tsunade tossed the scroll to Kakashi. "Here it's got all the information we could put together about their mission and their last known location. Head out tomorrow and be safe. You'll be heading towards Kumo, and we've had some unpleasant reports of movement in the Lands of Frost and Hot springs. Try to avoid fighting any of them if you cross paths."

Team Seven bowed and exited. Sakura felt a pit in her stomach grow as they left the tower. She was surprised when Sasuke spoke up first, "We'll do everything we can to make sure they come home safe."

Naruto nodded enthusiastically, and Kakashi smiled with his eye. "We're the Lucky Team Seven after all. We'll get this mission done in no time with total success!" Naruto said, grinning as wide as he could.

Sakura shook her head. "Terrible name, but thanks, everyone." she clenched her fist and smiled as best she could, "we'll rescue them no matter what!"

They agreed and went their separate ways to prepare for their departure tomorrow. Once Sakura got home, she was surprised not to see Ino around. She had gotten so used to her friend hanging around it was odd whenever she wasn't at Sakura's home now. Sakura spotted a note in the kitchen written in Ino's typical perfect handwriting. 'Won't be able to stick around here for a while, dad's been getting onto me about slacking off in clan training.'

Sakura shook her head and put the note down next to her parent's note. She scribbled a quick one and slapped it up on the wall where all her family's notes went 'going on a mission will be back in one or two weeks.'

The next morning Sakura was the first to the gate. Anxiety threatened to keep her up all night, but she crushed it only for it to wake her up early and keep her from doing nothing, so she grabbed her pack, made a good breakfast, and ate while she double and triple checked her supplies before heading out.

Sasuke and Naruto showed up at the same time arguing about something, but it died when they saw her. The three stood around and expected to be waiting for an hour or more, but Kakashi-sensei showed up only thirty minutes late. "Wow, you must be taking this mission more seriously than the rest sensei. You're only half an hour late this time." Sakura deadpanned.

Kakashi smiled. "Of course I am, it's an important mission to one of my genin."

Sakura was taken aback for a second but smiled. "Thanks, Sensei."

As Team Seven headed out, the Chunin at the gate smirked, "oh, do you two have permission to leave this time or is the whole team playing hooky?"

Sakura groaned, and Sasuke huffed as Kakashi patted their heads. "I'll keep a better eye on my genin from now on."

It took two days of travel before they made it to the Land of Fire's border. They stopped at one of the border patrol towers. Kakashi talked with the tower commander to get up to date info on the Land of Hot Springs. Team Seven rested there for an hour before heading the Land of Hotsprings. The difference was immediately noticeable as the trees outside the Land of FIre were considerably smaller and less dense than inside. They made contact with the border patrol and gained clearance to enter the land and find their comrades. Though they warned about an increase in foreign shinobi from Kumo and Oto showing up and causing trouble.

As they headed for Yugakure to confirm the last known location for Team Haruno, Naruto groaned, "it's so humid here."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "maybe if you wore something other than that jacket all the time, you wouldn't be suffering so much."

"Pft it's the best jacket ever. Why would I need something else?"

Sakura wrinkled her nose. "Naruto, please tell me you have more clothes than that."

"Of course, I have three pairs of pants, plenty of underwear and socks, a couple undershirts, and this jacket."

She shook her head, "You need more variety in your clothes. Especially for a mission to somewhere like this. You're gonna suffer in that jacket."

Naruto huffed "yeah yeah. You'll see, I'll be perfectly fine."

A day later, Naruto was pulling his jacket off as they entered Yugakure. His black undershirt clung to him with sweat. A woman in a light blue flak jacket with the Yugakure symbol on its shoulders approached. "Konoha shinobi. I'm Tagami. I've been sent by the higher-ups to help you find your missing squad."

Kakashi nodded, "you have information on their last known location?"

She nodded and motioned for them to follow. She led them into one of the various hotels and slid into a side room and unfurled a map on the table. "Your shinobi came through the border with their client and got here no problem."

"Who's their client?" Kakashi asked.

"Some bureaucrat for the Land of Fire he was here to discuss trade deals with some of the spring water distributors. Things were going fine till their hotel was bombed, and the team hid for some time before they fled the village. We did an investigation." she handed over a scroll, "Though we couldn't tell who did it. Your missing team was last seen headed southeast. I'm a tracker, so if you wish, I can help you."

Kakashi rubbed his chin as he looked over the map. "We'd appreciate the help. I'm Kakashi, this is Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura; they're my genin team."

Tagami nodded to each of them, "I'm sure you're all capable if you were sent on this mission." her blue eyes locked onto Sakura "you look similar to two of the Konoha shinobi."

Sakura nodded, "they're my parents. I'm here to get them back."

Tagami smiled bright, pushing a stray strand of black hair back behind her ear, "well, I will do my best to get you to them."

As they headed out, Naruto asked, "hey Tagami-chan, you're a jonin, right?"

Tagami nodded. "Yep, and I'd say I'm the best tracker in the village. I usually have a genin team, but they're running their first mission without me to help them."

"Wow, they must be really good then."

She smiled "top team of their year. They're clearing roads of bandits so travelers can stay safe."

"Oh yeah, I remember now Yugakure doesn't take missions outside the Land of Hot Springs. You keep to your own borders and use tourism and spring water sales to maintain the village." Sakura said.

"The village that has forgotten war," Kakashi said from the back of the group.

Tegami laughed, "yep, that's us. Our allies hated the decision, and our enemies were glad to hear it."

They traveled down through the fields and into the woods until the sun started to set. Kakashi had them make camp while Tegami and he set the perimeter. Sakura's watch came in the middle of the night, and she was surprised to see Tagami awake. "I can keep watch; it's alright."

Tagami smiled up at Sakura while she rubbed a thumb on her Hitai-ate tied around her thigh. "It's alright, Sakura-san. I can't sleep anyways. I guess I am more nervous about my genin than I care to admit."

Sakura smiled nervously. "You're a jonin-"

"Ha, that's what they keep telling me."

"It means you're a strong enough kunoichi to get there. How did you get there? How did you figure out you were so good at tracking?"

Tagami smiled, "you're struggling with your training, aren't you?"

She leaned back and looked up between the branches of the trees at the stars. "It was different when I was your age. The Third Shinobi War was going on, and I showed some decent leadership, so they promoted me to chunin."

She laughed, seeing Sakura's intensely focused face. "It was the jump to jonin that was hard for me. I was exceptional at tracking, but I lacked in combat, and my success rate as a team leader could have been better. I thought I'd just end up in the tracking corps as a special jonin, but then I met a missing-nin from Kusagakure. She was on the run after not following the orders of her superiors. I don't know how, but I got her to teach me, and it just clicked. It all seemed to come together, all those lessons I half-understood and the style of fighting she taught worked so well for me by the time she had to run again I had made jonin."

"What did she teach you?" Sakura asked.

"It was more of how she taught. She knocked everything into place for me. Being born into a clan can help give you a leg up like your team, sure, but a shinobi's ability is measured by the amount of effort they put into training and fighting. A good sensei can make you shine brighter than you thought possible."

Tagami looked over to where she was reasonably certain Kakashi was sleeping. "I'm sure Hatake-san is a good sensei, but maybe ask around your village to see if someone is willing to help, and don't forget to train and train and train every aspect of yourself, not just what you're good at."

"Thank you, Tagami-san I'll remember what you've said."

Tagami smiled. "I hope you do." she tapped her Hitai-ate. "I'm going to try and get some sleep."

The next morning they were up and moving before the sun was out heading southeast. Tagami stopped and crouched low "shush, someone, is up ahead."

The team crouched down and looked up ahead to see five Kumogakure shinobi looking over several bodies. One of them cursed, "those damn Konoha basterds killed them. Where's the tracking team?"

"Three miles west, sir. Following a different lead."

"Tsk, call them back here immediately! No way all of this blood is only our peoples." he marched off, and Tagami motioned for Team Seven to follow her. The group snuck around, and once they were far enough away, they continued heading southeast.

Sakura felt a pit in her stomach grow. There was definitely too much blood for just the couple of bodies back there. _'What if one of them is hurt? What if it's serious? What if-'_

Sakura's thoughts stopped, and she looked over as Sasuke put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure they're fine. You're a good shinobi, so I'm sure your parents are even better. We'll find them."

She thanked him as they kept moving. The trees thinned, and eventually, they were moving across an open field where Tagami stopped again. "Damn it. Hatake-san, if the bingo book is right, you have ninken summons correct?"

Kakashi nodded, "I do. I'll summon them."

"Good, I can't follow the trail any farther."

Naruto looked around and kept an eye out along with the others as Kakashi summoned his hounds, and they started sniffing for the scent of Konoha shinobi. "Hey, Neesan, don't you have a summons or something to help you track?"

Tagami rubbed her cheek sheepishly. "Wish I did trust me. There aren't many summoning scrolls around here. The five elemental nations have most contracts, and others are... dangerous to obtain. Contracts in my village are kept for the best of the best, and my higher-ups seem to think that means clans only."

"Wha? That sucks!" Naruto complained as they started to move again.

Tagami shrugged, "I take satisfaction in completing every mission without one. Just to show them, I'm the best, even without it."

They followed the pack as they tracked the scent. Kakashi glanced over his shoulder, "we have company. Looks like we've been noticed."

The others looked back to see about a dozen yards away at the tree line, a three-man Kumo shinobi team exiting the forest. "We'll have to fight them," Tagami said.

They came to a stop, and Kakashi looked at his genin. "You three work together. Tagami and I will handle the other two."

Naruto was going to complain, but the seriousness in Kakashi's face kept him quiet. He looked to his teammates, who flanked him as they pulled out kunai and got ready.

Kakashi cursed as one of them ran back into the woods "He's mine you guys take out the others quickly." he flickered away as Tagami moved to the left as senbon slid from her sleeves and she threw them at the kunoichi across from her. Their fight erupted quickly, and they moved away from Naruto and the others.

Sakura gulped, looking at their opponent. He was a lean but well-built guy with two chokutō swords that he drew slowly "of course, I have to deal with the brats. Well, come on, you little Konoha whelps, let's see how easily I can kill you three."

Sasuke and Naruto both looked pissed in their own ways. Sakura set her stance and was determined to do more. "Be Careful we don't know his skill set, and he's way too confident. He's either that good, or he's underestimating us that doesn't mean we have to do that same."

Her teammates nodded, and Naruto opened the fight with six shadow clones running in to see what their foe will do. Three were cut down by his swords as they tried to attack from the front and above. He turned quickly and avoided number four before stabbing the clone through the back. He blocked with his swords as five and six kicked simultaneously. He grinned, and lighting covered his blades, shocking the two clones and making them dispel.

Sasuke looked surprised by that before looking at his kunai for a moment. He refocused quickly. "Naruto, distract him, Sakura, try to limit his movements, and when an opening presents itself, I'll hit him with a Chidori."

Naruto huffed, "I've got a new jutsu. I could take him out easily."

Sasuke's eye twitched "how about we use it as back up plan, Dead Last."

"What did you say?!'

"Shut it, he's coming!" Sakura yelled as she jumped back, avoiding his first sword. Naruto narrowly avoided the second, and Sasuke took a kick to the chest when he tried to attack from behind.

"Come on, kiddies, no time to doddle fight me!" he charged Sakura, who had to keep falling back as the Naruto clones came in. He paid them little attention, just dodging or swinging his swords without looking at them and kept pushing Sakura.

She cursed as she landed and changed tactics. Sakura pushed forward as he was swinging at Naruto clones and got inside the reach of his swords. She pulled back, and he braced for the punch to his chest. It still sent him back several feet and made him stagger, which gave Naruto and his clones a chance to grab him.

They all heard of the Chidori's chirping, and the Kumo shinobi looked back at Sasuke, who was charging in at full speed. He thrashed against the clones and Naruto holding him in place. Sakura tried to run in to help when she realized Naruto couldn't hold him, but the Kumo shinobi threw the real one as Naruto's clones dispelled, and he collided with Sakura.

Sasuke cursed as the shinobi turned and grabbed Sasuke's wrist just in time. "Oh, nice you almost had me, but no luck." he lifted Sasuke, who spasmed as electricity shot through him, and his Chidori disappeared. He tossed Sasuke to the side and looked back to Naruto and Sakura.

"Naruto, keep him busy, I'll check on Sasuke, and then we'll try your new jutsu."

Naruto grinned, "Don't take too long, or I'll beat him myself."

Sakura ran to the right, and Naruto flooded their enemy with clones. The Kumo shinobi was busy cutting them all down, giving Sakura time to get to Sasuke as he was getting up. "You ok?"

Sasuke nodded and rubbed his wrist. "I'll be fine. Any ideas?"

"Naruto's new jutsu, he keeps mentioning?"

"Anything else for if that fails?"

"Uh, kiln move?" Sakura said with a shrug.

"Do you have enough chakra?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I haven't used much yet, so yes. Are you good to do it?"

Sasuke stood up and said, "I'll be fine." he activated his Sharingan "let's go."

They ran into the fight as Naruto fell back out of it to prepare himself. Sakura was quick enough to keep pace with the shinobis divided attention, and she packed a hard enough punch nowadays that he was wary of her but not as much as the Uchiha on his left.

They were overwhelming him, and he'd probably use a raiton jutsu soon. They glanced over at the light and noise coming from Naruto. He was holding a swirling ball of chakra that was spinning faster and faster as he ran in "Rasengan!"

Sakura blocked the shinobi's punch, and Sasuke kicked him in the head, staggering him as Naruto's jutsu made impact. There was a horrible ripping sound, and the shinobi shot back into the trees spinning like a windmill. They heard a sickening crunch as the shinobi hit a tree, and he fell limp and lifeless blood splattered all over the trunk.

They looked at Naruto, who looked a little shocked. "That uh-" he blinked "I didn't think that would kill him."

"What the hell was that?" Sasuke asked, looking dumbfounded.

Naruto shook the shock of his first kill from his face. "The pervy sage taught it to me while we were going to get Tsunade-baachan. It's apparently a move the fourth Hokage made." they stood in silence, and Naruto suddenly blurted, "The fourth Hokage's my dad, and my mom was Kushina Uzumaki. Apparently, there's a thing called a tail beast sealed inside me kinda like Gaara, but mine is called the Kuybi!"

His teammates blinked, and he took a shaky breath. "I've meant to talk to you guys about all that, but I got nervous and wasn't' sure how you'd take it, and I just killed that guy, and I know it's what shinobi do but-"

Naruto shut up as Sakura hugged him, and he saw Sasuke give a thin smile "it's alright, Naruto. You're still just a huge goofball and kinda an idiot, but most importantly, you're our teammate, so it's ok." Sakura said, pulling back.

He nodded and looked around, "where do you think the Kakashi-sensei and Neechan are?"

Tagami and the kunoichi she was fighting were both staring at the genin squad. She shook her head and looked at her opponent, both of them were bleeding from various nicks and cuts. "Look, you're in my homeland. You attacked me, and when I kill you, I will not be at fault. Your people know the rules of our land, so just run back to your boss and tell him whatever."

"Tsk like hell, I will. I'm gonna kill you, and when my backup shows up, we're gonna kill the kids then the rest of the Konoha scum in this land."

Tagami groaned, "fine, guess we do it the messy way." several senbon fell from her sleeves, and she threw them. Her opponent deflected them, and they came in close, making Tagami resort to taijutsu. As they fought, Tagami stabbed several senbon into her opponent's arms and legs. The kunoichi fell back and gasped as she felt the tug from the senbon, and the ninja wire glinted in the mid-morning light.

The wires all lead back to Tagami, who held them in her mouth and grinning as she spoke, "Raiton: Shokkuwaiyā!"

The kunoichi tried to pull the senbon out, but she didn't get them all in time as the lighting tore down the wires and hit her. The woman screamed and spasmed as she collapsed. Tagami walked up and kneeled, slipping a kunai in between her opponent's ribs. "Should have just run when I gave the option."

As she walked over to check on Sakura and her teammates Kakashi appeared looking none the worse for wear. "Oh, Hatake-san good timing. You've got some pretty strong genin; they took care of their opponent before I finished mine."

Kakashi nodded and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I saw on my way back. I see Jiraiya-sama is teaching you some advanced things."

Naruto nodded, "yeah, he said it was dad's move and that I should know how to use it."

Sakura saw a pensive look pass over her sensei briefly before it was neutral again. Sasuke, on the other hand, looked annoyed and wasn't hiding it. A dog's howl caught the team's attention, and Kakashi spoke up, taking the lead "come on, they found something."

The team headed to the hounds gathered by the entrance of a cave near the rocky shoreline. Naruto looked out over to the horizon, his eyes seemed fixed on something in the distance. Sakura patted his shoulder, and he seemed to snap out of it, "you good, Naruto?"

He smiled sheepishly, "huh? Oh yeah, just feels like there's something out there."

Kakashi looked at them before turning his attention to the cave and held up a hand "hold." He continued forward on his own, "Team Haruno, this is Kakashi Hatake of Team Seven; we're here to extract you!"

Sakura tensed and then felt relief as she heard her mother's voice start the passphrase for chunin. Once it was concluded, Team Seven and Tagami were able to enter, and Sakura nearly ran when she saw her mother standing at the ready. Her father had bandages around his arm, and their teammate was on the ground, unconscious. "Sakura? What are you doing here?"

She held back tears and smiled "we took the mission to come rescue you. I couldn't just leave that up to some other team. I know how difficult dad can be when he's hurt."

Her father groaned, "hey now. It's not ok to talk about your old man like that."

Sakura's mother smiled at them but quickly got serious as she looked at Kakashi "why did it take you so long to get here? Our last report was sent over two weeks ago. We've been running and hiding trying to get back to Konoha with Hokeno-san." she motioned to the ragged-looking bureaucrat who was sitting near their injured teammate.

Sakura and the others tensed, wondering what Kakashi would say. He looked around, "there was an incident that caused delays on us being able to process the message. You'll get a debrief once we're home."

Mebuki looked annoyed, "fine, but we can't move. Mita is injured pretty badly."

Tagami stepped up and said, "I know basic medical ninjutsu. I can take a look at him and see what I can do."

As she healed him, Sakura watched intently, "I've been looking into advanced first aid and some healing jutsu, but I haven't had a chance to learn any yet."

"It's gonna take a lot of hard work to get it right and to get good at it, but since you're from Konoha, you probably have access to plenty of material."

Once Tagami was done, Mita groaned, but he could stand, "I don't think you'll be able to do much fighting, but you'll live."

He thanked her, and Hokeno-san pushed his thinning gray hairs out of his face, "a-are we going to be able to get back now?"

Kakashi nodded, "yes, sir, we'll get you home safe and sound."

Hokeno nodded, "g-good No offense, shinobi, but I hope I don't ever have to come back here."

Tagami smiled. "I apologize on behalf of my land for the way you were treated. We'll endeavor to improve our security."

Pakkun ran in, "Hey pups, we got incoming. Best get out here."

Kakashi cursed. "I'll take command. Mebuki-san, Kizashi-san keep Mita and Hokeno-sama safe. Team Seven with me." He looked at Tagami. "You best run before it's too late."

She laughed "sure and tell my superiors that I let murders who disrupt the peace roam around. Kumo started this, and they started it in my land, so I'll make em pay."

He nodded, and as they moved, Sakura pretended not to see the looks her parents gave each other. They had left before all her training and were understandably worried that their daughter was unprepared for this fight. She'd have to show them how she's improved.

They exited the cave and saw eight Kumo shinobi waiting for them, the leader of which they recognized from earlier. He growled, "You bastards have some nerve killing our own. We're gonna put you down. Especially you Copycat ninja."

Kakashi pulled his hitai-ate, "remember your training. Fight as a team and watch each other's backs."

The fight was organized chaos. Sakura's parents stayed back, and Tagami assisted them with anyone who got too close. Kakashi was taking on several opponents at once while Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura took on those who were left. Naruto's clones swarmed people left and right, leading them into Sakura and Sasuke, who would finish them. Once the fight was over, they made a run for it, heading straight for the border, pushing their speed with chakra.

Once they were getting close, Sakura felt like she was going to collapse. She had to stop using chakra before she ran out, and she could tell Sasuke was reaching his limit. Even Naruto, for his bottomless pit of chakra, was slowing down. Tagami stopped as they reached the border "here's my stop. You lot get back home and come visit sometime I'll get ya a discount at a hotel."

Naruto and the others waved, and before they parted, Tagami patted Sakura's head, "keep at it and become a cooler kunoichi than me."

Sakura nodded enthusiastically, "I'll do my best."


	13. Recovery Arc: Trouble on the Horizon

The last sprint to the border tower was less intense, but they still kept up a quick pace. Once they were there, Kakashi put Hokeno-sama down, who shakily took a seat. "You shinobi can travel quite fast, it's impressive."

"Thank you, Hokeno-sama," Sakura said as Kakashi went to speak to the commander of the tower. They decided it would be best to have Mita and Kizashi checked on by the medical-nin stationed there and move out the following day.

That night Sakura sat by her teammates as her parents helped out around the tower. Sasuke looked annoyed but wasn't saying anything. Sakura bumped her shoulder against his "something is bothering you."

He looked away and said, "I'm fine."

Sakura rolled her eyes, and Naruto scoffed, "see, even Naruto can tell you're not in a good mood."

"Oi!" Naruto started to protest, but Sakura held a hand up to stop him.

Sasuke looked around before sighing, "I'm lagging. I thought I had gotten stronger, but I couldn't even lay a finger on Itachi, and then earlier, my Chidori failed to hit its mark. I'm not where I should be."

Sakura leaned back and looked at the ceiling. "Your brother is an S-rank missing-nin, so it makes sense. We've got a lot of work ahead of us if we're gonna take him down."

Sasuke looked at her, bewildered, "what do you mean we?"

She looked at Naruto, who nodded, and she smiled, "yes, we as in Team Seven. We're your friends Sasuke. We'll help you take down Itachi. At the very least, we'll keep his shark friend from getting in your way."

He looked pensive but nodded, "we're friends."

Kakashi appeared and patted his head "we're family. We help each other grow strong and help when needed. Get some rest, you three, you fought well."

"Thank you, sensei." they all said with differing levels of enthusiasm.

While the others headed to rest, Sakura found her parents and pulled them both into a hug, "I missed you guys a lot, you know."

They both smiled sweetly and hugged their daughter. Her father laughed, "you did well in that fight, Sakura. It's easy to tell you've been training a lot."

She grinned. "Yeah, well I took the chunin exams so-"

"You what?!" her mother shrieked, and Sakura laughed.

"You'll get filled in on everything when we get home, but yeah, we took it, and all three of us made it to the final exam. That's all I think Kakashi would want me to talk about right now, but let's forget that your mission took a long time."

Her father sighed, "civilian bureaucrats take their time doing anything. We had to go to the capital to get him then escort him to Yugakure, which took quite a while. Not to speak ill of Hokeno-sama, but the man is getting on in age he may need to think of a new job."

"Well, I'm glad you both survived. I missed you two though I did have Ino around a lot. In fact, she spent too much time over at our house instead of her own home; her dad got onto her about it." They chatted for some time before Sakura headed back to her team and fell asleep.

The attack came out of nowhere. It was an ambush set up once they were well away from the border tower. Kakashi was hit first and driven away by five Oto shinobi. Sakura's parents were held back, and Naruto got knocked to the forest floor and pursued. Sakura and Sasuke stood back to back as they were surrounded. "Why are they here?"

Sasuke grunted, "Probably saw us when we were in the Land of Hot Springs and decided to take us out. Let's show them why it was a mistake."

Sakura nodded and grinned, "Never fight a Konoha Shinobi in the woods."

They were outnumbered and outmatched, but everyone fought with all their might. Naruto's chakra erupted upwards, all red and full of hate and killing malice. It always sent a chill down Sakura's spine the few times she had felt what she figured now was the Kyubi's hatred. More Oto shinobi diverted their attention to Naruto as he fought like an animal. Sakura looked over as Sasuke's Chidori drove through a shinobi's chest. The shinobi gripped his arm and pulled himself closer to Sasuke. He leaned in and whispered, "Lord Orochimaru requested your presence."

Sasuke threw the man's corpse away from him, and suddenly all the Oto shinobi pulled back and ran for it. No one pursued, and Kakakshi came back with a few cuts and bruises and an unconscious Naruto over his shoulder. Sasuke pulled a senbon out of his side, and they all set about patching up their various injuries, none of which seemed severe.

Kakashi looked over his team and sighed, "alright, let's get moving before anything else happens."

The return trip was routine from then on except for Sasuke, who looked like he was getting exhausted far too quickly. By the time they were almost to the village, he had collapsed, and Sakura picked him up. They hauled it double-time back to the village and signed in quickly before rushing the group to the hospital. Once the injured were admitted, Kakashi, Sakura, her mother, and Hokeno-sama went to speak to the Hokage.

Sakura's mother took the news of the Third Hokage's death well and gave her congratulations to Tsunade, who congratulated her on a safe return. Tsunade's mood soured as she heard about the incident, and then she nearly broke the desk as they informed her about the Oto ambush inside their borders. "I'll arrange for an escort back to the capital Hokeno-sama; in the meantime, we'll set up accommodations in the village for you."

He bowed, "Thank you, Hokage-sama." he was escorted out by a chunin.

"Good work Sakura Haruno on bringing your parents home. You're dismissed for the day, go check on your teammates and rest."

Sakura bowed and left the office. She took the scenic route back to the hospital and found Naruto up and about. She was surprised to see Hinata was there talking to him quietly. She smiled and slipped out before either knew she was there. Sasuke, on the other hand, was still out cold though the nurse confirmed he would be fine in and probably out of the hospital in the next couple of days.

She wasn't sure what to do and ended up wandering to the Yamanaka flower shop. Ino's father was at the register, which was unusual; he was usually too busy to personally man the shop. He smiled, "ah Sakura-chan, how nice to see you. It's rare to see you here. About as rare as is it is to see Ino at home."

Sakura chuckled dryly as she looked over the flowers. "I'm sorry, Inoichi-san. With my parents gone, Ino decided all on her own it was in my best interest to let her stay over for a few days, which turned into a few too many."

He laughed, "It's quite alright. She's been making up for lost time since you went on your mission."

There was a silence that fell over the store for a moment before Sakura spoke again "I got them back. My parents, I mean. We got their team back successfully."

Inoichi smiled, "glad to hear. Do you need any flowers?"

"Uh, yes, my idiot teammates are both in the hospital."

The days went by, and Team Seven was back in fighting condition again. There was an issue though; whenever they left the village, Oto shinobi would ambush them. At least one would practically throw themselves onto Sasuke's attack and whisper to him before dying, and the rest would retreat. Tsunade grumbled and looked over the reports. "Sasuke Uchiha, I don't want you to leave the village. Something is going on, and it's not good."

Sasuke crossed his arms and said, "I don't like the idea, Hokage-sama. Our team has been doing good work. I would prefer to be out there, even with the risk."

Tsunade tapped her finger on the desk. "Nonetheless, you're on temporary leave. Now Kakashi out. The rest of the genin should be here now."

Kakashi left as the rest of the Konoha twelve came in. the room felt a little crowded as they looked at the Hokage, who pulled out some papers. "The Chunin Exams were interrupted before they could be completed. You all performed to varying degrees of success. I looked over the reports of your performance and spoke to observers and various lords present for the third exam."

"Some of us are getting promoted, aren't we?" Shikamaru said, 'ugh, that's such a drag."

Tsunade smiled. "Well, Shikamaru Nara, Shino Aburame, Naruto Uzumaki, come forward. I've decided the three of you shall be promoted to chunin. This was not an easy decision, and I debated it for some time, but now it is official, and you have to live with it." She placed the three vests on her desk.

Shikamaru grumbled but took his vest, Shino had his usual unreadable expression, and Naruto looked ready to burst with excitement. Everyone congratulated them, and Ino announced, "alright, we're going to go celebrate. Choji, your family has a new barbeque place, right? You think they'll mind us coming by?"

Choji finished off a bag of chips and shrugged, "they'll be fine with it."

Ino, with help from Kiba, and Lee's enthusiasm, guided the Konoha twelve to the barbecue restaurant. They cheered and congratulated the new chunin as they started to eat. A few minutes into the party, Sakura looked away as Ino congratulated Hinata on getting the courage to talk to Naruto while he was in the hospital. She saw Sasuke fidgite and doing his best to hide his emotions as he and Kiba went back and forth bantering. She made a mental note to talk to him later and make sure he was ok. She looked back to Ino and Hinata, smiling and joining back into the conversation.

As the party died down and everyone started heading home. Sakura looked around and frowned, "damn it."

Ino bumped shoulders, "what's wrong?"

"I was gonna talk to Sasuke, but he ran before I could."

Ino slipped her arm around Sakura's and pulled her along "oh well, there's always tomorrow to talk to him. I'm sure he'll be fine. It's Sasuke-kun after all."

Sakura chewed her lip. "Yeah... I'm sure he'll be fine until tomorrow." She looked to Ino, "so where are you dragging me off to?"

Ino smiled, "what, it's dark. I'm just walking my friend home."

Sakura rolled her eyes "is your dad still giving you grief about missing out on clan training?"

"I barely missed any training. We were just going over basics that I've got down anyway."

Sakura shook her head "come on, Ino, you're not gonna be a great kunoichi with that attitude. You're lucky you've got a clan with specialized training to help you along. You'd outpace me pretty quickly if you took it more seriously." She grinned, "Might have been able to beat me in the Chunin Exams then."

Ino sighed, "I know I know. I'll endeavor to do better, so the next time we spar, I can kick your butt."

"Good. I expect a good fight when the time comes."

That night, while Naruto was in his apartment grinning as he looked at his chunin jacket, Sakura took her time walking home while talking with Ino; Sasuke was in his clan's training ground running drills.

In the Hokages Tower, Kakashi stood before Tsunade, flanked by the elder council and Danzo. She groaned as she looked over the papers in front of her "Your mission to the Land of Hotsprings went well by all accounts except for the fifteen dead Kumogakure shinobi you left behind. They're furious for obvious reasons and demanding recompense in the form of the team responsible for their deaths."

She looked up at Kakashi's guarded expression, "I'm not stupid enough to hand you and your team over. We'll figure something else out in the meantime. I'll be keeping you guys inside the border, so you don't have any 'accidental' run-ins with a Kumo team."

Kakashi bowed, "understood Hokage-sama." Tsunade dismissed him, and he quickly disappeared.

The next day Team Seven gathered up at their training ground. They noticed Naruto was wearing his chunin vest over his jacket. Sakura smiled, "why not just wear the vest without the jacket?"

Naruto shrugged as he pulled on the vest. "It's weird to not wear the jacket. I've always worn it, ya know."

She shook her head. "Sasuke, please tell him he needs to get new clothes."

Sasuke just shook his head, not looking over. "He'd never listen. Send him to get clothes; he'll spend his money on ramen instead."

"Fair point."

Naruto huffed, "No, I wouldn't!" he pulled out his frog wallet, and they were both surprised by how bulging it was. "I manage my money well I'll have you know!"

Kakashi appeared, snagging the wallet. "You certainly do. Though it's not a good idea to go flaunting your cash around." he snapped the wallet shut and tossed it back to Naruto. "Gather round. We're doing team exercises. Naruto, you're a chunin now, so you may have to lead a team one day. You'll be the leader, and I'll be the enemy force." he produced a scroll, "get behind enemy lines and steal the scroll, then get out back to your base simple as that."

"You gonna use a bunch of clones again, aren't you sensei?" Sakura asked.

He smiled with his eye "of course, it's no fun if it's not a challenge. Now I'm gonna go find a nice spot in the woods and set up base. Once half an hour has gone by, your mission begins."

He disappeared, and Naruto's teammates stared at him crossing their arms. He fidgeted "what?! Why are you both staring at me like that?"

"Well, team leader, you should come up with a plan, shouldn't you. You already know how Sasuke and I fight, so come on, think up a strategy."

Naruto scratched his chin and hummed as he paced around. After about five minutes, Sasuke sighed, "he's got nothing."

"Oi, I have something! It's just... not complete yet."

Sakura sighed, "Yep, he's got nothing."

Naruto groaned, "when have we ever had a solid plan?! We usually just go with a gist, and a goal, then adapt!"

Sakura smiled. "Then why not give us a gist. We have our goal already."

"Hm, I'll send clones to go find the base and set off traps. Then um-" he tapped his foot and looked around, "we'll come in from different sides. Sasuke, you're fast; you get the scroll and run Sakura, and I will keep sensei from getting to you."

"I'm impressed. Dead Last, that's not bad."

Sakura stepped in before they could start arguing, and they went over how the clones would search the woods. Once the thirty minutes were up, Naruto made a dozen clones, and they went running off into the woods while the three of them moved in slowly. His clones moved in a tight formation, and Naruto could feel when they got popped, so they adjusted their movements to hopefully avoid the Kakashi clones and get closer to the scroll.

It took several close calls and almost an hour, but they found the scroll lying on a tree stump with no Kakashi insight. "That's a trap," Sasuke said bluntly.

Naruto nodded, "Of course it is. That's why we're going to uh... look around first."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "great idea, team leader; what are we looking around for?"

"Traps and things. Signs that sensei is nearby. Once we think it's safe, I'll run in first and grab it then toss it to Sasuke."

They split up Sasuke and Sakura, going along in the trees while Naruto moved across the ground. Once they were reasonably sure, Naruto approached the scroll cautiously and grabbed it. When nothing happened, he tossed it to Sasuke, who slipped it into his weapon pouch. It was when they went to head back they ran into two Kakashi's. Sasuke immediately opened up with a fireball splitting them up. Naruto made several clones to rush his Kakashi clone while Sakura put an earth wall up to keep her Kakashi from running back right away.

Sasuke poured his chakra into speed and took off jumping branch to branch. Naruto slipped past his clones and Kakashi's to catch up while Sakura fought her opponent with taijutsu. She threw several flash bombs before making another wall as they went off and used earth walking to slip into the ground and pop out away from the clones. She started running to catch up with her teammates.

Sasuke blocked a kick from Kakashi as Naruto showed up. Kakashi looked surprised to see Sasuke pull back and let Naruto rush in with clones. Sasuke tried to run, but two more Kakashi's showed up, and shortly behind Sakura, the other two closed in as she made it to her teammates. They were thoroughly surrounded as the real Kakashi stood on a branch "You're surrounded. You should give up."

Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto, worried. He looked back and smiled, "we'll never surrender. You want the scroll, you gotta get it sensei!"

Team Seven put up a good fight and dispelled several of Kakashi's clones, but they were ultimately defeated. Afterward, Kakashi went over their weak points as a team and had them rerun the drill. By the end of the training, they were exhausted and ready to call it quits for the day. Kakashi waved them off, and Naruto grinned, "I'm gonna go see Iruka-sensei. He's gonna be so surprised that I got chunin."

As he left, Sasuke scoffed and started to trudge off. Sakura jogged and caught up. "Hey, Sasuke, wait up."

She huffed as he didn't really slow down. "You doing ok?"

"Why wouldn't I be ok? I can't leave the village because we get attacked everywhere we go, and the Hokage doesn't think I can handle it, and to top it off, Naruto got promoted."

"I'm sure Tsunade-sama doesn't doubt your abilities, it's just for your safety while we figure out what they want, and of course, Naruto got promoted. He was the bottom of the class, and he beat Neji, who was the top of his year. Plus, he beat Gaara- You're not mad about the promotion; you're upset by how quickly he's progressing compared to you, aren't you?"

Sasuke huffed and picked up his pace. "No, I'm not. Naruto isn't better than me, and he never will be. I need to go train some more."

"I'll train with you-"

"No, I'd rather just do solo training for a while. I'll see you tomorrow."

He took off, and Sakura sighed, deciding not to pursue. Sasuke wasn't doing well, but she wasn't going to fix it in a conversation. "Maybe Kakashi-sensei can help with this." she wandered off to try and find him.

It took some time, but she found him talking to Jiraiya. As she approached, she bowed her head, "Hello, Jiraiya-sama."

He smiled, "ah Sakura-chan, was it? What do I owe the pleasure?"

"I actually need to ask Kakashi-sensei for some help."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Oh, what do you need help with?"

"I'm sure you've noticed Sasuke is on edge and short-tempered. Ever since the run-in with his brother, I think he's been feeling powerless, and on top of that, Naruto and I have both been progressing pretty well. I think it's getting to him. I don't know what to say to help him understand he's still strong despite how much his teammates are growing."

Kakashi rubbed his chin "Hm, I'm sure he'll be ok. I'll talk to him when I get a chance, and then-" he stopped and looked off in the distance for a moment. "Then we'll work as a team to make sure he's ok. Now, if you'll excuse me." he vanished, and Sakura looked over to see Jiraiya had disappeared as well.

"They are only good for learning how to be a shinobi. Why did I expect more than I'll talk to him later."

Sasuke slumped against the tree, taking a break from his extra training. He tensed, feeling a malicious presence appearing nearby and looked up to see four shinobi with Otogakure Hitai-ate on their foreheads. "What do you want?"

The four sound ninja grinned, and the six-armed one approached, "We're here to escort you to Lord Orochimaru. He wishes to see you about the gift he gave you."

Sasuke's hand covered his curse mark, "and when I tell you to leave, what are you going to do?"

"We'll have to insist you come with us."

Sasuke stood up and threw several shuriken before bolting; he was quickly surrounded. Sasuke smirked as he avoided their attacks and threw them into each other. Sasuke was feeling good as the four attackers laid in a pile. They poofed into logs, and Sasuke turned in time to catch a foot to his abdomen, sending him flying back. He looked up and clenched his teeth as the curse mark started to spread across his body.

The two-headed guy grinned and kicked Sasuke before he could move. Sasuke gathered himself and saw curses spreading across the four of them. "You didn't think you were the only one with the curse mark, did you? We all have it and more than you."

The fight quickly turned away from Sasuke's favor as he was tossed around like a rag doll. Once the beating was done, the sound four stood over him, and Tayuya spoke, "We'll be outside the village waiting for you. Best come along willingly, or we'll be back to collect you forcibly."

They left Sasuke crumpled on the ground of the training area. He coughed and cursed at not being able to take them down. After about half an hour, he got up and staggered back home, where he cleaned himself up.

Sakura was picking at her food, mind wandering. She sighed, and her parents looked at each other before her father spoke, "everything alright, dear?"

Sakura put her chopsticks down. "Sasuke is having some issues. He's talking about it some, but I know he's diverting or ignoring the big issues when I press him on it. Whenever Naruto talks to Sasuke, it devolves into an argument, and they usually spar then ignore each other for a while. I can't tell if Kakashi-sensei really doesn't see the issue or if he's actually too busy to help, and I don't know what to say to him either."

Her mother rubbed her chin "Hm, before I was on a team with your father, I had a teammate from a shinobi family who lost all of them during the third shinobi war. He did a similar thing in letting revenge against Iwagakure drive him. It got him killed when we were on a mission, and instead of retreating, he charged some Iwa shinobi and died. My team didn't try hard to talk to him, we were busy doing missions, and we didn't get much downtime to talk."

She smiled at her daughter, "use this time where you don't have to do so many missions and just let him know you're always there to talk if he needs it. Push him to talk, but don't force it too hard, or you'll just push him away."

Sakura nodded and stood up, "thanks, mom. I think I'm gonna go for a walk and think about it. I'll be back in a bit."

She left her house and walked down one of the most familiar roads in the village for her. She walked down it all the time to head to the front gate. Sakura sat on one of the benches and looked up through the trees "what am I gonna do? I don't want him to do something stupid. I know Orochimaru is trying to get him to go to Otogakure, but there's no way he'd-" her eyes snapped over. She saw Sasuke walking down the road.

Sakura stood up "oh, hey Sasuke, what are you doing out here at this time?" she eyed the backpack straps and bit her lip.

Sasuke looked away, "Just going for a walk. Trying to clear my head."

"Really? How'd your solo training go?"

He shrugged, still not looking at her "about as well as it can." he started to walk, and she stepped in his path. "What are you doing, Sakura?"

Sakura gritted her teeth, "Just having a chat with my friend."

Sasuke stepped to the side "well, I'm going for a walk so we can talk later."

"Then I'll come with."

He stopped. "No, I think it'll be better if I go alone."

Sakura stepped in front of him again. "Sasuke, what's the bag for?"

He tightened his grip on the bag. "It's just some training equipment."

"Hm sure. Why are you heading down this road in particular? there's not much to see but the front gate at the end of it."

"Just picked it at random. Now, if you'll-" Sakura put a hand out to keep him from walking past her. "What are you doing, Sakura?"

"Hopefully? Stopping a friend from making a stupid choice. Practically? Doing things the hard way."

"What stupid choice am I making?" He actually looked at her now, and she felt a chill run down her spine.

"I think you're frustrated, and Orochimaru's attempts to get your attention are working. I don't want it to be true, but you're going to see what he wants, aren't you?"

"So what if I am? I need more power. I need to get stronger so I can avenge my family and kill that bastard Itachi!"

"I understand that you want-"

"How could you?" he snarled. "You haven't lost anything in your life. Your parents were in danger, and you saved both of them. I couldn't save anyone in my family. They're all dead because I was too weak!"

Sakura balled her fist, "I only saved them because I had you and the rest of our team. We're stronger when we work together. Remember, we can actually stand a chance against our sensei when we work together. We beat all those Kumo shinobi by working together. Don't you get it? If you stay, we can help you get your revenge."

Sasuke pushed past her, and Sakura spun, attempting to kick his legs out from under him. Sasuke flipped over her kick and took a couple steps back. "Sakura, don't."

Sakura set her stance and glared at him. "If you aren't gonna listen to me like a reasonable person, then I'll just have to do things the hard way."

Sasuke put his pack on the bench. "You aren't going to beat me."

"Guess we won't know until we fight."

Sasuke dropped into his stance, and for a moment, they just stood there staring at each other. Sakura moved first, rushing in quickly and attempting to punch him. Sasuke jumped back, and Sakura's punch collided with the ground cracking it. Sakura pushed him, and he kept falling back. She scowled, "what's wrong, Sasuke? I thought you were better than me, why are you just running away?"

Sasuke's eyes flared with anger, and he stopped falling back. "Fine then if you're serious about this." he charged in, and they started fighting. Sasuke was fast, and his attacks hit hard, but her punches hit harder, and she has sparred with him as an opponent and a teammate, so she understood how he fought, and he understood her.

Sasuke jumped back and put distance between them as his hand ran through the signs for a fireball. Sakura quickly made an earth wall to block it. She slipped into the earth and moved away from her wall as it cracked. Sakura popped out behind Sasuke and threw a brace of shuriken. He blocked them easily and rushed her faster than last time.

Sakura blocked and used her hair to try and stab Sasuke whenever his hands were occupied, blocking her punches or punching her. Sakura cursed as he started to use his version of Lee's taijutsu. Sakura broke off and attempted to slow him down. She ran through the hand signs and punched the ground, "Doton: Dosekiryū!"

The ground under Sasuke's feet turned to mud and moved, pushing him away from Sakura as she made several clones who rushed into the trees before running at him. Sasuke threw several kunai, poofing most of them. The last two ran straight at him as he kicked one and punched the other, they both disappeared, and he felt a hand grab his ankle and start to pull him down. Sasuke pulled a kunai out and slashed at Sakura's hand, making her let go and sink back into the ground.

Sasuke jumped away as Sakura pulled herself out of the ground and started to wrap her bleeding hand. Sasuke growled, "will you stop it now, Sakura? You're going to get hurt if you keep this up."

She huffed and tightened her bandaging. "Sorry, but we're doing this the hard way you picked this, Sasuke, but I'll let you forfeit, and we can go talk it out."

Sasuke gritted her teeth, "Fine, then you asked for this."

"No, I didn't. You did," Sakura rushed him as he activated his Sharingan, and the fight went downhill fast for Sakura. Her attacks stopped landing, and her defense broke quickly. Sasuke flickered and appeared behind her, delivering a quick shot to the back of her head. Sakura collapsed unconscious.


	14. Recovery Arc: Sasuke Recovery Mission

Sakura woke up staring at the sterile white ceiling of the hospital, and a voice to her left spoke, "Ah, you're finally awake." she looked over and saw the Hokage looking over a clipboard. Tsunade looked at her "tell me what happened."

Sakura recounted her interaction with Sasuke. Tsunade looked annoyed more than anything else "hm, it's only been a couple of hours. You rest up I'll get a team together to take of this."

"Wait, Hokage-sama, please let me assist."

Tsunade turned and looked at her. "Why should I? You already tried to stop him and failed."

Sakura gripped the sheets and looked up to her, "Because I'm his teammate. I'm going to try again to stop him... even if I don't have your permission Hokage-sama."

Tsunade eyed her. "Hm, you would just announce your intent like that. Fine, come with me, we're heading to my office."

Sakura stumbled out of her bed and followed the Hokage. Once they arrived at her office, it only took a few moments for Shikamaru to come in; he looked between them and sighed, "You summoned me Hokage-sama."

"I have a mission I need you to lead. Time-sensitive and Sakura Haruno is to be part of the team. You have thirty minutes to assemble whatever genin you can find and go after Sasuke Uchiha, who has abandoned the village and bring him back."

Shikamaru looked surprised, "what? Sasuke abandoned the village? When?"

"Sometime last night. Sakura tried to stop him, but she failed. Now go you two and get your team."

They left the Hokage tower quickly, and Shikamaru said, "Let's split up and find whoever we can then meet back at the front gate."

Sakura nodded and ran off to find who she could. Around the thirty-minute mark, both of them arrived with their parties in tow. Shikamaru had found Choji, Neji, and Tenten while Sakura found Ino, Naruto, and Kiba. "No, Shino or Hinata?" Sakura asked.

Shikamaru shook his head, "Seems he's off with his father for some clan training."

"And Lady Hinata still isn't well enough to be taking on a mission such as this," Neji said.

Neji ignored the look Naruto gave him, and the comment about it being his fault she's not well enough. Shikamaru looked over the team and nodded, "alright, Ino, Choji, and Kiba with me, we're team one. Sakura, Naruto, Tenten, and Neji, you're team two. We'll move in an arrow formation Kiba at the lead following the scent, I'll be right behind him and on my left Sakura, and Ino on my right. Choji on Ino's right and Tenten on Sakura's left, Naruto behind me then Neji in the rear."

Shikamaru paced as he spoke about why they would move like that. "With Neji in the rear using his byakugan, we'll have an advanced warning about attacks from behind. Meanwhile, both the wings will be scanning their sides. Naruto, you keep your head on a swivel. We don't know what we'll be dealing with, so be ready and be careful."

He scratched his chin. "Now, since we don't know what will happen, our two teams may have to split from each other. You'll need a leader to make calls when we're split."

They looked at Naruto, who looked at his feet before groaning loudly, "I think Sakura should do it. She's better at the whole strategy thing."

Shikamaru looked at Sakura, who was suddenly feeling antsy "um, I'm not that great, but... ok, I can lead team two if you think it's a good idea, Shikamaru."

He nodded, "do it. Now let's go, people, we need to get Sasuke back to the village."

The group formed up and headed out of the village following the scent Sasuke left behind. It didn't take long before Shkimaru called them to a halt and pointed out the paper bomb on the tree directly in front of them. Neji activated his byakugan and scanned the area "there's at least five more it looks like a perimeter barrier."

Shikamaru looked to Tenten. "Can you disable it?"

She smiled "fuinjutsu is pretty important to my kit. It'll take a moment, but I'll get it down." She pulled out a brush and ink well and made a few strokes before slowly pulling the paper free. They moved slowly, letting Neji point out the tags he saw and letting Tenten render them useless.

After some time, they were clear of the tags, and Neji could see the enemy. "Four of them are sitting in a circle, and it looks like there's some sort of barrel with them. It's covered in seals, and I can't see Sasuke anywhere." Neji said.

The group landed on the ground, and Shikamaru spoke, "there's a chance Sasuke is inside the barrel. Team two, you go around for a long flank from the left. Choji, Ino stay a few paces behind Kiba and I. We'll see if we can't get closer and scope them out better."

The teams split, and team one moved forward while two went far left, being sure to look out for more traps. As Shikamaru and Kiba got closer, a kunai flew past with an explosive tag throwing them into the clearing. They quickly got up as Choji and Ino were pulled into the clearing by spider threads. The six-armed Oto shinobi laughed "you lot were so noisy I knew you were coming. What do you want? Here to fight us like those other two idiots we beat down?"

Shikamaru raised his hands and said, "we just want Sasuke Uchiha back. I presume he's in that barrel."

"What if he is? We aren't going to give him back. He came with us willingly, so best to just leave before you get hurt, brats." The Kunoichi in the back said."

"Sorry, but we can't do that, it'd be a real drag to come back home empty-handed."

"Then we'll just have to kill you. Jirōbō, take care of these brats then catch up with us." Kidōmaru said as he picked up the barrel.

Inos hand shot up _'Shintenshin no Jutsu.'_ she went limp, and Kidōmaru stumbled, almost dropping the barrel. Ino immediately came back, screaming into her own body before passing out. Choji held her unconscious body, and before the team could move out of the way, Jirōbō slammed his hands into the ground, and a large earth dome surrounded them.

Three of the Sound Four continued on their path, leaving Jirōbō to take care of Shikamaru's team. Sakura waited for the three Oto shinobi to start running again before her team descended on Jirōbō. Naruto and Neji went on the attack pulling Jirōbō off the earth dome, and Sakura landed next to it. She knocked on, "Shikamaru, you guys ok in there?"

"Ino got knocked out somehow, and the inside of this place feels weird. We're going to try and break it from the inside. Keep the big guy busy."

"Will do." she turned to see Tenten unleashing a volley of kunai with one of her scrolls as Naruto and Neji fell back.

Naruto was panting "this guy drains chakra when he touches you."

There was drilling noise from inside the dome and the sound of Kiba cursing. Sakura refocused on Jirōbō as he charged at Naruto and her. They dodged and attacked in tandem, but he was tough and strong enough to throw them around like rag dolls.

Shikamaru banged on the walls of the dome. "Sakura, get someone to hit right here while when I say when!"

Sakura looked back at her team, who were dancing around Jirōbō, keeping him busy. "Alright, we're ready on this end, Shikamaru!"

"One...two...three!" Sakura cocked back and infused her chakra before punching the earth dome as hard as she could. At the same time, on the inside, Kiba and Akamaru did their fang over fang attack. The wall cracked, and Sakura punched it again as Choji hit it from his side, breaking through the wall. They scurried out of the collapsing structure as Sakura tried to ignore the pain in her arm, and Shikamaru took charge. "Choji, can you take this guy on?"

Choji finished off a bag of chips he had just opened. "Sure thing Shikamaru."

Shikamaru patted his shoulder, "Good." He turned to the fight and said, "everyone fall back."

Choji engaged Jirōbō as the rest of the team took off Sakura putting Ino on her back. "Is Choji going to be ok?" she asked.

Shikamaru smiled. "I've been friends with Choji for most of my life. If he says he can handle it, then I trust him." he dropped down and left an indicator for Choji before moving out again.

"Ino isn't waking up. We might need to hide her somewhere. What happened to her anyway?" Sakura said as she adjusted her grip on her friend.

Shikamaru grunted and started looking around for somewhere to put her as they moved. "I'm not sure she tired her mind transfer and came back screaming before passing out." He dropped down to the ground level, and the others followed, "here we can tuck her into the base of this tree and put something over her."

Sakura deposited Ino into a divet between the roots of a tree and covered her with some foliage. Once Ino was sufficiently hidden, they continued on, and it didn't take long for them to catch up to the Sound Four. Kidōmaru tossed the barrel, and Tayuya caught it, telling him not to mess around too much. Kidōmaru shot spiderwebs at the approaching group, surprising them all as they were pinned to the trees except Naruto, who had managed to slip under the webs shot at him.

"So Jirōbō couldn't stop you all. Doesn't matter fatso wasn't even the strongest of us. If he couldn't deal with you lot, then he had no business being part of us."

Sakura saw Tenten use a seal on her wrist to summon a kunai to start trying to cut herself free. Meanwhile, Neji had his byakugan activated and was looking at the webs. Sakura kept her eye on Kidōmaru, who was having to deal with a Naruto clone surprise attack. She channeled chakra into her hair and used it to start trying to slice through the webbing.

Neji applied his Jūken and burst from his webbing. He rushed Kidōmaru as Sakura and Tenten cut themselves free and moved to help the others. "Tenten back me up!"

Tenten finished freeing Shikamaru. "On my way." she looked at Shikamaru "you guys go on ahead, Neji, and I will take care of him."

Shikamaru nodded, "be careful and catch up when you get done."

The group split yet again, leaving Neji and Tenten behind. Tenten let loose a barrage of shuriken shredding the webs Kidōmaru shot. Neji rushed in, trying to close the distance while Tenten kept Kidōmaru from falling back. Kidōmaru cursed and jumped up into the trees, quickly summoning a giant spider before trying to fall back. "Neji!"

He nodded, "I'll leave the summons to you. Catch up when you can."

Kidōmaru's curse mark spread as Neji sliced through the webbing and dogged his hardened webs.

"I can't believe you just left your girl back there to deal with my spiders. Do you actually think she stands a chance, or are you just sacrificing her in the hopes you can beat me before it comes for you?"

Neji gritted his teeth. "I would never sacrifice a teammate. She's going to defeat your summons, and then she'll back me up, and we'll put you in the ground." Neji lunged and managed to block the chakra points in one of Kidōmaru's arms before he got out of Neji's range.

Tenten jumped off a tree branch and twisted with her scrolls summoning weapons and throwing them. Each weapon hit a spider, and she landed with a handful of kunai and threw them, each hitting one of the central spider's eyes. It hissed and screeched as it fell to the ground. Tenten lept on it, driving two swords into its head, making it screech one last time before it disappeared.

Kidōmaru cursed, feeling his summons disappear. He had managed to get out of Neji's byakugan's range and was keeping his eye on the Hyuga as his curse mark spread farther "let's play a game, Hyuga brat."

Kidōmaru started molding webs and hardened weapons. Neji saw the weapons enter his field of range and quickly rotated to deflect them. They played this game of running around and firing from different angles until Kidōmaru smiled, "oh, you have a blind spot."

Tenten stopped within Neji's range and hid, looking around for any sign of the enemy. Neji smiled, seeing his teammate rejoin him and deflected more of those hardened web kunai, but yet another came through his blind spot and hit him in the back. Tenten clenched her teeth, seeing Neji get riddled with kunai, but she still couldn't tell where Kidōmaru was. "Damn it, he's moving too much; where is he?"

Neji was panting, and his chakra was running low. He needed Tenten to spot the enemy so they could take him out. He saw it for just a second, a brief moment, the arrowhead appeared out of his blind spot. _'Shit no time to dodge it completely.'_

Tenten saw Neji move slightly as an arrow pierced straight through his shoulder and hit the ground leaving a crater. Tenten clamped a hand over her mouth and held back her gasp. Neji locked eyes with her, and she nodded. Tenten followed the wire before it was cut, but she knew the direction to go.

Neji watched as Tenten moved in the direction the arrow came from before sprinting in the opposite direction. Kidōmaru made another arrow and took aim then fired. Tenten saw another arrow go flying by and adjusted her course. She spotted him above, making another arrow. She shivered, _'oh, that's gross.'_

Kidōmaru took aim with his spiral arrow and shot it. As the arrow flew, Neji turned and let it pierce his gut pinning him to a tree. Neji grabbed the thread attached to it and sent a shot of chakra down, stunning Kidōmaru. At the same time, Tenten jumped up, unfurling two scrolls and unleashing their content onto Kidōmaru, who screamed as he was barraged with kunai and other various weapons.

Neji stumbled over to them and collapsed. Tenten pulled out a tanto and threw it as Kidōmaru tried to stand up as his web armor cracked and fell away. It sank into his chest, and the Sound Four member fell over as the light left his eyes. "Neji! Are you ok?!"

Tenten grabbed Neji as he fell to his knees. "Oh shit, come on, stay with me."

Sakura grunted as she hit the trunk of the tree. Kimimaro landed by Tayuya and leaned over. "Kill them, Tayuya, and I won't kill you. Lord Orochimaru has waited long enough for Sasuke. I will deliver him, and you will do this and pray he doesn't kill you afterward despite your team's massive blunder."

Tayuya grabbed her arm to try and stop herself, shaking, "y-yes sir, I will take care of them."

"Good." Kimimaro hefted Sasuke's barrel over his shoulder and took off.

Shikamaru cursed. "Naruto, Sakura, go after him! I'll take care of her."

They nodded and went after Kimimaro leaving the last of their teammates behind to fight. Sakura looked back. "I hope the others can finish their fights and catch up. This last guy seems different from the others."

Naruto nodded, "yeah, but we're working together, so we can definitely take him."

Kimimaro stopped in a field and set down The barrel. He turned and sighed, "Tayuya can't even follow simple orders."

Naruto and Sakura landed a few paces from him, and Sakura tensed, seeing Naruto's red eyes out of the corner of her eye. "Naruto, are you good?" she whispered while keeping her focus on Kimimaro as he stared at Naruto.

Naruto bit back a growl "yeah, I'm just pissed that these people keep getting in the way!"

He crossed his fingers, and Sakura stepped back as at least fifty clones appeared and surrounded Kimimaro. Sakura watched and circled slowly around the crowd of clones seeing Kimimaro produce bones and slice through Naruto clones with no effort even when they rushed him all at once. She spotted the barrel Sasuke was starting to smoke _'looks like I'm running out of time.'_

Kimimaro seemed distracted by all the Narutos and had moved away from Sasuke. Sakura moved in as quietly as she could but jumped back as a bone nicked her arm. Her eyes shot up to see Kimiarou rushing her. "Doton: Dosekiryū!"

Sakura cursed as he effortlessly avoided the mudslide and closed the distance between them. Sakura was on the defensive and was backpedaling fast as Naruto clones tried to help but were ultimately unable to do anything.

It was only a second that her attention was pulled. She didn't mean to get distracted, but the barrel all but exploded apart, and she saw Sasuke standing there as his curse mark retreated across his body. Then she saw red and felt Kimimaros bones shredding through her right arm and the side of her neck.

Kimimaro stepped back to speak to Sasuke, who was looking at Sakura as she scrambled to put pressure on her neck. "Sakura!" she looked over and saw Naruto with murder in his eyes as he turned on Kimimaro.

"Naruto! Take Sakura and run."

Sakura was quickly losing blood, so she wasn't sure if she heard Sasuke right or not, but Naruto seemed to realize what was going to happen and was hefting Sakura up bridal style before turning to Sasuke, "If you don't come back to the village I will come after you."

Sasuke nodded, and his teammate took off quicker than he'd ever seen Naruto move before. Sasuke turned to Kimimaro. "You weren't with those four earlier who are you?"

"I'm Kimimaro Lord Orochimaru sent me to collect you."

Sasuke smiled. "You won't be doing anything. I'll go to Orochimaru but first-" His Sharingan activated. "I'm gonna kill you or what you did to Sakura."

Kimimaro tilted his head, "Sakura? Do you mean that woman who was here earlier? Why do you care about what happened to her? You're leaving the village to serve Lord Orochimaru."

"I'm leaving to get stronger so I can kill my brother. My friends weren't supposed to get hurt, since she did, I'm going to kill the bastard responsible for it."

Naruto was vaguely aware of his rapidly draining chakra, but most of his attention was on his bleeding teammate. The dark, angry voice of the Kyubi rumbled deep in the back of his head, "Leave her. Kill them. Kill them all!"

He shook the thoughts infecting his mind and refocused on getting Sakura back to the village. Naruto shot past Shikamaru, who was struggling to deal with Tayuya. He barely noticed the blonde girl passing him and unfurling a giant fan.

Naruto nearly collided with Lee. "Ah- shit, Bushy Brows! I can't stop."

Lee looked shocked. "Sakura-chan?! What happened to her?"

"No time I need to get her back to the village."

"Allow me, Naruto-kun, I am much faster. I will get her there sooner."

Naruto looked down at his bleeding teammate. She was pale and barely breathing, "y-yeah, take her. I'll go back and make sure Sasuke comes home."

Lee removed his weights and grabbed Sakura before turning on a dime and opening the first gate. Naruto stared at him in a daze as Lee tore through the wood.

Naruto nearly fell over feeling exhausted from the sprint and sat down hard on the branch. He stared at the blood on his jacket and felt his mind going blank. The sound of water dripping made Naruto flinch, and he looked up to see he wasn't in the woods anymore. He was sitting in a large, dimly lit room full of standing water. Naruto flinched as huge claws smashed against the bars of a giant gate. He looked up and saw the red eyes of the Kyubi.

Sasuke was on the offensive with his taijutsu making Kimimaro use his bones more defensively. Sasuke felt great; his curse mark wasn't causing him pain anymore; if anything, it was making him feel even more powerful than before as it spread across his body.

Kimimaro's curse mark spread as well as he started to push back against Sasuke's assault, making the Uchiha relent his assault and put up a defense. Sasuke could tell Kimimaro wasn't trying to kill him like he was Sakura and Naruto, and Sasuke was going to make Kimimaro regret those choices.

Naruto stared up at the eyes of the giant fox and flinched as it smashed its claws against the bars again. "What do you want, brat? Shouldn't you be out there worrying about your poor dead pink girl."

"Wha- no, she isn't dead! Sakura will be fine. We've got Tsunade in the village so she can fix her up..."

The Kyubi laughed, "You failed to keep them safe. The Uchiha brat is going to abandon you, the pink one is going to die, and who knows what happened to the others while you ran away."

Naruto gritted his teeth and stood up. "No! You're wrong, you damn fox! I believe in my friends, and I know they'll make it out of this fine! What would you know, anyway? You're just a damn demon fox."

Kurama snarled and smashed against the seal, making Naruto stumble back and fall out of his inner world. He came to with a jolt and looked around, "ah shit, I need to get back to Sasuke."

Sasuke's Sharingan traced Kimimaro's movements and was struggling to keep up with him. Kimimaro swung a faint that Sasuke fell for and planted a solid kick sending Sasuke flying. The impact was softened by sand that lowered Sasuke to the ground. "The hell are you doing here?" Sasuke said as he stood up.

Gaara stood next to him with his arms crossed. "Your Hokage sent my siblings and me to aid in bringing you back to the village."

"Heh, you can try to make me go back after I kill this guy."

"I will help you."

Sasuke stepped forward. "No, you won't. Sakura might have let you three go, but that doesn't mean I trust you. Stay out of my way, or you're next."

Gaara stepped back, but his sand shifts and twists around him, ready to attack or defend at a moment's notice. Kimimaro sighed as Sasuke cast a fireball jutsu and tried to flank him with a kunai. "Sasuke-san, you need to stop and just come with me to Lord Orochimaru. I do not wish to kill you."

"Oh, but I want to kill you, so I'm going to." Sasuke said as he ran through the hands signs, "Chidori!" Sasuke poured on the speed to try and get within Kimimaro's defense and thrust his hand forward. He had to abort the attack as rib bones shot out from Kimimaro's chest and felt sand pull him back.

Sasuke turned back, "I told you to stay out of this!"

Gaara shook his head. "I can't, I was told to help Naruto get you back to the village, so that's what I'm going to do."

Kimimaro turned his attention to Gaara. "If you're insistent on that, then I suppose I'll have to get rid of you before I can get Sasuke-san back to Lord Orochimaru."

Gaara's sand shot up and stopped several bone projectiles that Kimimaro shot. Sasuke pushed Kimimaro with taijutsu and a Chidori while Gaara tried to slow him down and pulled Sasuke away from danger. Sasuke would curse and try to get away from Gaara's sand.

Kimimaro coughed up blood as his sickness caught up to him. _'I'm running out of time. I need to get rid of this Suna pest and get Sasuke-san under control.'_

Kimimaro advanced to the second stage of his curse mark and made a bone spiral around his arm. "I'll have to kill you before I can get Sasuke-san."

Gaara erected a sand shield shaped like Shukaku as Kimimaro rushed him. As the spiral of bones bore into the sand. Sasuke appeared behind him and charged with a Chidori.

Naruto stumbled to a halt as he saw that a sizable clearing of trees had been cut in half. He looked over and saw Shikamaru. "Oi Shikamaru, are you ok?"

Shikamaru looked up, and shock crossed his face. "Naruto, are you ok? Who's blood is that?"

As Naruto landed near him, he pointed at Tameri, "ah, what is she doing here?"

"That's not important; why are you covered in blood?" Shikamaru snapped.

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Sakura got hurt. I ran into Bushy Brows, and he took her back to the village."

Shikamaru grunted, "how bad?"

"... real bad. I need to go back though Sasuke is fighting that guy who took him earlier."

Temari finished tying up Tayuya and walked over, "Do you want back up?"

Naruto shook his head "it'll be ok I can bring him back." They looked at each other but let Naruto go off on his own.

Naruto landed by the opening and was surprised again by the scene before him. There was sand everywhere and bones like trees protruding from the ground. Gaara was floating on the sand as Kimiamro hung halfway out of a bone tree dead.

'G-Gaara, what are you doing here? What happened to that guy?"

Gaara lowered himself down, and Naruto saw some minor injuries. "He seems to have died from some illness during the fight. Sasuke was... upset, to say the least, that he couldn't kill him as revenge for your teammate. He ran before I could stop him."

Naruto gritted his teeth but smiled at Gaara. "It's ok, Gaara. Rest up, I'll get Sasuke back."

Naruto took off again, headed the direction Gaara said Sasuke had run off in. He saw Sasuke up ahead and was closing the distance quickly, "Sasuke! Stop running."

Sasuke stopped running as the two stood at the valley of End without turning to look at his friend. Sasuke asked, "Is Sakura ok?"

Naruto clenched his fist. "I hope so. Lee ran into me, and he's taking her to the village now come home so we can both make sure she is ok."

Sasuke turned, and Naruto stepped back, seeing the curse mark creeping over his skin. "No, I won't be going back, Naruto. I'm going to Orochimaru, and I'm going to gain even more power, and I'm going to kill Itachi."

Lee tore past the main gate and practically kicked the hospital's front doors off the hinges. "Please, we need Lady Tsunade quickly!"

The Nurses were quick to act, and someone went to inform the Hokage that there was a critical case. They left Lee standing in the lobby with blood on his jumpsuit as Sakura was rushed into the emergency room. As the first gate powered down, the pain and stress on his injuries caught up to him, and he nearly collapsed. Lee managed to stay upright long enough to lay on the benches and pass out.

Shikamaru and Temari were headed back to the Village when Gaara arrived. He handed Shikamaru a body storage scroll. "The fifth Oto Shinobi died fighting Sasuke and me."

Shikamaru took the scroll and tucked it away. "Thank you. We have to go check on the rest of my team."

They saw the results of Neji and Tentens fight, and Shikamaru stored the body of their enemy. The trio found Ino still unconscious, and Gaara used his sand to transport her. After some more travel, they found Choji and double-timed it back to the village.

The Nurses looked frazzled by all the genin coming rushing in with life-threatening injuries. The Hokage was already in the emergency room, and T&I was present to collect the bodies in Shikamaru's possession.

The Sand Siblings were reunited, and Kankuro informed Shikamaru about Kiba's condition. Shikamaru thanked them for their help and let them run off to talk to the Hokages aid while Shikamaru got checked over by a nurse and sat next to Tenten, who was looking tense.

"How's it, Neji?"

Tenten smiled and fiddled with her hands. "He took too many hits. I took too long to find where the enemy was. I should have been better. I'm a weapons expert. I should have been able to tell where he was firing from sooner."

Shikamaru looked at the broken fingers on his hand and sighed, "this mission didn't go very well. Choji took all three of his food pills, so who knows if he'll make it out, and Ino... I don't know what happened to her. Her dad was sent for hopefully he can do something."

Tenten nodded, "I found Lee passed out with blood on himself; he said Sakura was in the emergency room."

Shikamaru nodded. "Saw Naruto, his vest was covered. We ran into a fifth Sound shinobi, and he apparently did a lot of damage to her. I don't know the extent yet, but I'm sure we'll learn about it at some point."

"Is Naruto back yet? Did he get Sasuke-chan?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "Don't know. Gaara said he ran off to chase Sasuke; hopefully, he comes back successful."

Tenant stared at her feet. "Yeah, hopefully. Think it'll make this all worth it?"

Shikamaru scratched his head, "honestly, I don't know."

Sasuke's eyes darted left, and Naruto's clone came in from the right and punched him in the face. Sasuke skidded across the water and rolled back to his feet.

Naruto grinned as his clones came to stand by him. They rushed and flanked Sasuke from both sides. Sasuke's Sharingan tracked the Naruto's and said, "Why won't you just fuck off Naruto?! Why are you so insistent on coming after me!"

Naruto gritted his teeth and landed a solid punch on Sasuke's chest "because you idiot, you're my friend!"

Sasuke stumbled back and narrowly avoided a barrage of attacks. Sasuke smiled and felt the change happen in his eyes as the third tomoe appeared in his eyes. "Then fight me! We never got to during the Exams, so let's do it now. If you win, take me back, and when I beat you, I'll go down my own path!"

"We'll see about that, Sasuke. I'll bring you back, and you can apologize to Sakura for what you caused!"


	15. Recovery Arc: Mission Failure

Kakashi returned to the village from a tedious yet important _'hm I should probably talk to Sasuke before training tomorrow. See what I can do for him.'_

He looked up from his book as a genin messenger ran up to him. "Hatake-san, the Hokage needs to see you asap. She's in the hospital treating some critical patients."

A pit grew in his stomach that he desperately tried to ignore as he took off to his least favorite spot in the village. Kakashi was directed to the emergency wing and clenched his teeth as the Hokage stepped out of an operating room talking to a doctor. "She's stable now. Keep her under watch. I'll be in the next room over if anything comes up."

Tsunade looked at Kakashi, "Hatake there you are, was your mission successful?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes ma'am, the package was successfully delivered."

She saw his eye flick to the door behind her for the briefest of moments. "Sakura Haruno is ok, she is stable right now. I don't have much time to explain everything. I need to go and work on Choji Akimichi."

Tsunade started walking, and Kakashi kept step behind her as she spoke, "Sasuke Uchiha attempted to leave the village with the aid of several Oto Shinobi. I assigned Shikamaru Nara to build a team of whoever he could find quickly and go after them, so far everyone but Naruto has returned. I need you to go out and search for him and Sasuke."

Kakashi nodded, "I'll bring them back, Hokage-sama."

"Good, you're dismissed."

Kakashi took off and headed to the front gate fighting down the dread in his stomach. Sakura was hurt enough to be in the ER, Sasuke was on the run, and Naruto was going after him if Kakashi didn't get there soon enough... He shook the thoughts and summoned his Ninken and started his pursuit of his students.

Naruto gulped as he looked up at Sasuke. His friend stood in the crater on the cliffside, his skin gray and two hand-shaped wings jutting from his back. Naruto gritted his teeth as he fell to all fours on the water. He could feel the Kyuubi's chakra seeping out, but unlike the other times, the Fox wasn't goading him on, and he remained conscious.

Sasuke's hand lit up with lightning as he made a Chidori. Naruto growled and lifted his hand, forming a Rasengan. The two charged each other, screaming as their jutsu collided.

Kakashi double-timed it as the rain started to come down. Pakkun and the others had a good lock on Naruto and Sasuke's direction, but if he didn't get there quickly enough, they'd lose the scent. He slowed as he approached the Valley of the End and saw Naruto lying unconscious with Sasuke's Hitai-ate held tight in his hand. Kakashi sighed, and Pakkun confirmed Sasuke wasn't anywhere nearby. Pakkun and the other hounds disappeared as Kakashi picked up Naruto and put him on his back.

Naruto stirred and woke up as Kakashi jumped tree to tree; his sensei looked over his shoulder. "You're awake. How are your injuries?"

Naruto sighed and rested his forehead on Kakashi's shoulder. "I'm exhausted, but I think I'll be fine sensei."

Kakashi nodded and let Naruto drift back asleep as they made their way back to the village. They got back quickly, and Naruto was admitted to the hospital with chakra exhaustion, several broken bones, and a few minor injuries.

Days went by with the jonin senseis feeling anxious for the wellbeing of their genin. Inoichi managed to pull his daughter back to consciousness though her spiritual energy wasn't settled correctly, and it would take time to shift back into place. Neji had to deal with Lee and Guy's constant visits though he was glad when Tenten would kick them out for being too loud.

Choji recovered and was on a strict diet while he recovered. Kiba and Akamaru were both held up together, recovering from blood loss and stab wounds.

Naruto woke up, and Jiraiya was sitting near his bed "ah, you're awake. Glad to see you up; how are you feeling?"

Naruto looked at his bedsheets as his hands tightened. "I failed to get Sasuke back. Orochimaru has him now. Who knows what he'll do with Sasuke."

"My sources tell me he wanted to use Sasuke to transfer bodies, but I also got information that he just did before Sasuke left the village. It'll take three years before Orchimaru can do that transfer again."

Naruto relaxed a bit "then we need to go after him and-"

"Your teammate hasn't woken up."

Naruto looked at Jiraiya, who gave him a stern glare "we have almost three years to train and find Sasuke. I'm planning a trip, and I want you to come with Naruto for two and a half years of traveling and training."

"Wha- no, I can't. Sakura isn't even awake!"

Jiraiya patted Naruto's head. "It'll be ok I don't plan on leaving right away. I need to wrap things up and make preparations. You also need to recover, so it'll be ok you have time."

Naruto nodded. "O-ok Pervy sage."

As Jiraiya left, he laughed and moved aside to let Hinata sit and talk with Naruto. Another day passed before Sakura woke up. She tried to sit up, but a hand pushed her gently, "you need to rest."

She looked over to see Ino pushing her back down. Sakura saw the dimness in Ino's eyes and green tint to her blue eyes. "Ino, are you ok?"

Ino gave a thin smile that looked wrong and had no feeling behind it. "I'm ok. My spiritual energy isn't settled right, so I'm experiencing a... upset in my emotions. It'll settle in a day or so more until then I'm... fine."

Sakura winced as she tried to move her right arm that was covered in bandages. Ino pulled an apple out of a basket and began peeling it. "Hokage-sama said you nearly died from blood loss. Your right arm is going to need serious rehabilitation, and you have stitches in your neck. Naruto and Lee were apparently quite fast in getting you back to the village."

Sakura's left hand gripped the sheets as she shook, trying to hold the emotions back. "Damn it damn it damn it damn it!"

Ino put the plate of half-peeled apple down and patted Sakura's head. It was stiff and awkward, but Sakura stopped and looked at her friend, who just stared blankly. Sakura smiled, "th-thanks Ino."

Ino picked her plate up again. "It's no problem."

Sakura stared at her bandaged arm till a plate of peeled apples appeared in her vision. She blinked and took it, seeing they were peeled to look like rabbits. "Rabbits?"

Ino put her kunai away. "I thought it would look nice. Is it?"

Sakura nodded as she ate one "yeah, they're cute."

The door slid open, and Naruto stumbled in. He looked over and grinned, "Sakura, you're awake?!"

Sakura looked at her teammate. "Did we- did we fail?"

Naruto deflated, and he sat down in the other chair. "Yeah... I couldn't get Sasuke back."

Sakura sighed, "Guess we'll just have to get stronger and drag him back. Next time we go to get him, I promise Naruto I won't get hurt at least until it's time for us to beat some sense into our fool of a friend."

Naruto grinned, "Hell yeah, we'll get 'em next time... which reminds me. Pervy Sage wants to travel and train for two and a half years. He said he wants me to come with but-"

Sakura slapped her bed, "You need to take that opportunity. Jiraiya-sama is a sannin; you'll be able to learn so much from him. Remember, you had asked about fuinjutsu during the chunin exams. Jiraiya-sama is a fuinjutsu master. You can ask him about it while you travel."

Naruto seemed to realize, "Oh, I forgot to look into that so much happened I didn't get a chance to see what it was."

Sakura shook her head, "You're an idiot, sometimes." Sakura took another bite of an apple. "You should go rest up, Naruto, so that you can be ready for when you leave."

"Promise to say bye before I have to leave?"

Sakura grinned, "of course, idiot, you're my teammate and a friend. I'll be sure to say goodbye before you leave."

Naruto stuck around for a while before heading back to his room to rest up. Once he was gone, Sakura tried to talk with Ino, but her friends' altered mental state didn't make it easy to keep a conversation going, and eventually, Ino left when the nurse told her visiting hours were done.

That night Sakura laid there staring at the ceiling. Her parents hadn't come to see her today though she assumed they came while she was still unconscious. "Yo, Sakura-chan, what are you doing up at this hour?"

Sakura nearly jumped out of her bed before looking at her window and seeing Kakashi sitting in the window frame. "Sensei, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Tsk tsk language young genin. I just came to check on you and make sure you are ok."

"In the middle of the night?"

Kakashi shrugged, "I was busy and didn't think you'd be awake anyway."

Sakura sighed, "You're such a weird sensei."

Kakashi just smiled, and she could see the sadness in his eye for just a moment before he hid it. "I'm sorry I wasn't in the village to help you two."

Sakura gritted her teeth. "You should have talked to Sasuke earlier. Maybe it would have helped keep him from running."

"I see that now. Things are stirring, and the Hokage has me running around quite a lot. I doubt I'll be able to train you two for some time."

"It's ok sensei Naruto is going to go travel with Jiraiya-sama, and me- I'll figure something out. I swore with Naruto earlier that we would get stronger and go to get Sasuke together."

Kakashi looked out towards the great stone faces. "I hope you two can bring him back."

"We will sensei now if you'll kindly shut the window on your way out. I need to get some rest."

She never heard or saw him leave, but the window was shut, and she felt like she could fall asleep now.

Sakura was surprised the next day when the Hokage herself showed up to check on her. "Um, Hokage-sama, I have a request."

Tsunade looked up from her, clipboard, "oh, and what is the request?"

Sakura gulped and shifted in her bed, her eyes wandering up her right arm that was covered in scars now. "I want you to teach me once my rehabilitation is done. I want to know how to control and magnify the strength I have, and I want to learn how to be a medic."

Tsunade looked at Sakura's charts and said, "I have seen your files. You have good control... after rehabilitation, there will be a test. If you pass, I will teach you."

Sakura smiled, "I will definitely pass, and I'm sure you won't regret taking me on as a student Hokage-sama."

"I hope that's the case. For now, focus on getting better."

Shortly after Tsunade left, Sakura's parents came in, and her mother sighed with relief, "thank goodness you're finally awake."

Sakura smiled and hugged her parents one at a time. "Sorry for worrying you two. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

Her mother shook her head as she sat down, "we know, dear."

Her father patted her hand, "we heard the details about your mission from the Hokage. How are you doing?"

"Physically? I feel stiff and kinda light-headed, and my arm hurts. Mentally? I feel kinda like a failure. I couldn't stop Sasuke from leaving the village. Maybe I would have been able to help Naruto beat Sasuke, and we could have dragged him back to the village."

Her mother patted her head. "It's ok, dear. Sometimes things just don't go right on a mission; the best you can do is survive and learn from the experience. Grow stronger and keep being a great shinobi, alright."

Sakura's dad smiled. "Of course she will, honey. Our daughter is going to surpass us in no time."

Sakura laughed and talked with her parents about asking Tsunade to teach her. They were nervous and excited about their daughter's upcoming challenges and the potential they held.

Sometime after her parents left, Sakura was surprised to see Shikamaru enter, followed by Temari. "Here, she is. Finally awake and everything", Shikamaru said as he slid into a chair.

"Uh Hi, Shikamaru-kun, what's with the visit." Sakura looked at Temari, who shifted nervously by the door.

Shikamaru pointed at Temari. "She wanted to talk to you but was too nervous about coming by herself. It's a drag, but I owed her one."

Temari bristled. "Hey, I am not nervous. I just thought... she wouldn't be very receptive to me showing up alone."

Sakura blinked "what? Why are you in the leaf, and why do you owe her?"

Temari tensed, "my brothers and I were picked to come and deliver a message to the Hokage, and she asked us to help your squad out."

"Oh, thank you for your help then. I didn't know."

Temari blinked, "wait, but... you're not mad that we're here?"

Sakura shrugged, "I'm guessing Suna is patching things up with Konoha, or they never would have asked for you to help us."

"Yeah, but you said if we ever stepped foot in the Land of Fire-"

Sakura waved her hand and laughed, "Oh, that I was just trying to scare you. I doubt I could beat you or your brothers. At the time, we were enemies, so I tried my best to intimidate you into running away."

Temari blushed, feeling like a fool. She marched up to Skura's bedside and swiftly leaned over, giving a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you for sparing us anyways, and I'm sorry we couldn't have helped you out more."

Sakura sat there stunned, but before she could recover, Temari turned and marched out. Shikamaru groaned and mumbled to himself as he got up to follow her.

The days ticked by, and Sakura was the last one released from the hospital with strict orders to not train and to come back for weekly checkups and rehabilitation. Sakura stood by the front gate with Hinata and the others. She did her best to ignore the itching sensation in her right arm as the sun started to rise. "He's turning into our sensei with how late he is."

Ino laughed, "maybe he's just nervous about such a long trip."

Sakura looked at her friend who's personality had come back, say for a few times where she would space out or the sudden tolerance of small reptiles. Ino's eyes had also gained a green tint to them. Ino looked over, "what something on my face or are you just admiring how perfect it is?"

Sakura laughed and nudged her friend, "yeah, just jealous of how pretty you are."

Ino pouted, "don't go back to thinking you're not pretty, Sakura, or I'm gonna have to sit you down like when we were kids and have a talk."

"I'm not. I promise I don't need another Ino lecture about self-confidence."

Ino hugged her side, making sure to avoid Sakura's right arm "good."

The group stood around a bit longer till Naruto finally showed up with Jiraiya. Sakura watched as Kiba boasted about how he would be doing his own intensive training. Lee gave an overly enthusiastic send-off while Shino and Neji were more subdued. Choji gave Naruto some chips, and Shikamaru looked like it was taking all his effort to not just go home and sleep. Ino and Tenten both wished him luck, and Sakura pulled Naruto into a hug "be safe ya hear Naruto, and when you get back, we'll smack some sense into Sasuke together."

Naruto grinned as Sakura stepped back, "hell yeah, we will."

As Sakura stepped back, Ino pushed Hinata forward, who was blushing and clutching a small bag. Ino stepped back and stood by Sakura as they watched their friends talk to each other quietly, and Naruto accepted whatever was in the bag. Naruto grinned as he stepped back. "See you guys later. I'll be back before ya know it."

The group stood around and watched him go. As they dispersed, Sakura and Ino came up on either side of Hinata, and Sakura smiled. "So, you gave him a gift as he left."

"And they didn't talk very loudly wonder what they could have been saying," Ino said as the three walked.

Hinata blushed. "I just uh- it was a care package. Some healing salves and stuff."

"Oh nice, but what did you two talk about?" Ino asked.

Hinata decided the street was incredibly interesting as she looked at it instead of her friends and mumbled, "J-just that we would get ramen when he comes back."

Sakura and Ino grinned as they praised Hinata for managing to ask him even if they would have to wait years for it to happen. The three of them went their separate ways to get their days started.

The days turned into weeks, and by the time a month had gone by, Sakura was sitting in her rehab room doing the exercises when the Tsunade stepped in, "glad to see, unlike your sensei, you stick to what the hospital tells you to do."

Sakura smiled, "I try my best to not let his bad habits rub off on me."

After her exercises were done, Tsunade did her checkup. "Hm, you can start light training now, but don't try to push it. You need to build your strength back up before you can improve. I'll leave the type of training you do up to you."

Sakura nodded, "thank you, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade smiled "don't thank me yet now that you're here." she dropped several thick medical books in front of Sakura "you need to read up on this if you hope to pass my test."

"Hehe ok... I can handle that, ma'am, thank you."

Sakura brought her new material home and dove into studying and several more weeks went by, and Sakura was given the go-ahead to be put on active duty. She stood before the Hokage's desk, and Tsunade smiled. "Are you ready to take your test, Sakura-san?"

Sakura clenched her fist and looked Tsunade in the eyes, "Yes!"

Tsunade stood. "Good, then follow me."

Sakura was led to a large room full of medical and ninjutsu books. Sakura saw Tsunade's aid Shizune there as well. The two women drilled Sakura on identifying various parts of the body and plants. They had her perform various strength and chakra control tests. Once Tsuande called an end to the test, Sakura sat down on the floor panting. Tsunade smiled down at her. "Is that all you have to give? Can you not get up and keep going?"

 _'It's a test she wants you to get up, so do it, idiot. You need to get up right now!'_ Sakura gritted her teeth and stumbled up to her feet. "I can keep going, Hokage-sama!"

Tsunade smiled. "Congratulations, Sakura-chan, you have passed. I will teach you everything I know. I have confidence you'll be able to handle it."

"Thank you, master, I won't disappoint you!"


	16. Years Arc: training starts

Naruto adjusted his pack as he and Jiraiya headed out from the rest stop they had spent the night in. "Oi pervy sage, there's something I wanted to ask."

Jiraiya closed a small journal and slipped it into his pocket. "Oh, what do you need to ask?"

"You said my mom wasn't born in Konoha; where was she born?"

Jiraiya sighed and looked over an empty field. "Your mother and your clan, in general, were from the former Land of Whirlpools, a small country between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water. The ninja village Uzushiogakure was your mother's home before she moved to Konoha. The Uzumaki clan, along with several other powerful clans, lived there, and it was a powerful ally for Konoha. Sometime after your mother left the village, it was attacked by Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri, and now the whole area is a ghost town."

"Do-do you think we can go there? I want to see what it's like."

Jiraiya scratched his chin "we aren't headed in that direction right now, but we will have to eventually if everything goes to plan, so I suppose so. No one's ever been there since the village was wiped out, so we'll have to be careful, but sure thing, kid, we'll go check it out."

"I also wanna know about fuinjutsu. I saw Tenten-chan use it during the chunin exams, and again when we went to try and rescue Sasuke, she used it to disable traps."

Jiraiya laughed, "You're much like your father. When I started training him, he had such an interest in fuinjutsu. It also helped that Kushina was always hanging around him to help him learn some of her clan secrets."

Naruto smiled. He always loved it when people told him about his parents and what they were like. Naruto listened as Jiraiya started to go on about his parents and teaching them fuinjutsu.

Sakura stood nearby and watched as Tsunade performed the Mystic Palms Technique on a fish, and it quickly started flapping around on the table. "Study up and practice your control. Once you can get the hang of this, we'll move onto the next step."

Sakura nodded, "understood, Master." she looked over the basics of how to perform the technique and began attempting it with a fresh fish.

After a couple hours of trying, Tsunade had her pause and moved her onto another part of the training. "Hatake-san says he's trained your taijutsu a lot, and that you show some naturally high strength. You've also tried infusing chakra to enhance it, but you're suffering recoil from it."

Sakura nodded as she was led outside to a clearing behind the Hokage tower. "Yes, Master, I kinda did it by accident the first time, and I've been kinda busy, so I haven't been able to figure it out."

Tsunade nodded, "I struggled to find a way around it. Typically enhancing one's strength or speed with chakra works, but only to a point, then it starts to taper, and eventually, you will damage yourself and gain less and less from it."

"How did you find a way to negate it?"

"Building up muscle and bringing your base strength up is the first step. The next step will require you to master Mystic Palms and have a higher control than you do now. You'll need at least a ninety-five percent control of your chakra to enhance your muscles with mystic palms instead of normal chakra."

Tsunade turned and faced her now that they were in the middle of the clearing "for now, show me your skills taijutsu only for this fight."

Sakura gulped and processed the information. Shizune had done a test earlier and informed her that her control was at about eighty percent, and now she was going to fight the Hokage in a taijutsu sparring match. "Right away, Master." Sakura dropped into her stance and started the match.

Mebuki stuck her head out of the kitchen as her daughter came in and laid on the living room floor. She dried her hands and walked over to Sakura. "How was your day, dear?"

Sakura groaned as she attempted to stretch her arms, "My bones hurt."

Mebuki smiled. "It's going well then. Your father will be late coming back, so go ahead and eat dinner when it's done, alright."

"Ok. for now, I'm... just gonna lay here and groan." Mebuki patted her daughter's head and headed back into the kitchen to finish up dinner.

Sakura's days went by in an orderly fashion. She would get up and eat breakfast with her parents, then go to the Hokage tower and start her training. Most days, Shizune would watch over her and give her pointers, and Sakura would ask about poisons during downtime. By the end of the day, Tsunade would test her chakra control then drill her on taijutsu and strength training to build up her muscles and stamina.

It was hard work, and every day Sakura would come home and feel the ache and drain of physical activity and excessive chakra usage. After two weeks of this, Tsunade approved her proficiency with Healing Palms. Sakura packed her things once the day was done, and Tsunade spoke, "now that you've got Healing Palms down, we're going to focus on chakra control, and you are going to start trying to make this." she pointed to the diamond on her forehead.

Sakura blinked "wait is that a jutsu master?"

Tsunade sighed, "yes, it is; it's called the Byakugō. It's a seal made by storing a constant amount of chakra until the seal is complete. Once it is done, you will be able to release it, and it will grant you huge strength and healing buff. I want you to spend a week monitoring your chakra usage and then take a set amount of what's left and store it in the seal every day. You'll do this by focusing on a specific spot in my case, and in most users' cases, we store it in the forehead."

Sakura bowed, "I'll do my best, master. Thank you for everything today."

Naruto laid on the ground panting as Jiraiya sat nearby "you're getting better with your futon, but you need to work on making your Rasengan with one hand."

"Y-yeah, I'll work on it, pervy sage." he sat up and looked at his master, "so can you teach me some fuinjutsu now."

Jiraiya nodded and unfurled a scroll. "It's not really teaching. Fuinjutsu is something everyone comes to understand in their own way. I can show you the basics and help you understand the standard Konoha way of doing it, but a true master will eventually develop their own way to make seals and will be able to read other seals and understand them even if they're done in a different style than their own."

Naruto scratched his head "that sounds complicated."

"It's not that bad. You're a creative kid, so I'm sure you'll pick it up. Now come on I'll show you some of the basics."

The Oto shinobi screamed as he was thrown over the balcony. He had been trying to hit the Uchiha brat from a distance, but the kid was faster than he thought. Sasuke ran for another opponent as his Sharingan tracked the movements of the six remaining opponents. Orochimaru had locked him in the room with the simple instructions to win.

Orochimaru and Kabuto watched the monitor as Sasuke beat down the opponents sent against him. "His Sharingan has progressed nicely, Lord Orochimaru, and it looks like we'll need to find some more powerful opponents to fight him."

Orochimaru stared at the screen unblinking, "I have several in mind, but it will have to wait. I'm leaving to go to the prison. I need new material, so the main compound is in your care Kabuto."

Kabuto bowed, "of course, sir, I will make sure everything runs smoothly while you're away."

Sasuke knocked out the last of his opponents and heard the click of the doors unlocking. He left and was met by Kabuto, who smiled, "Excellent work Sasuke-san."

Sasuke scoffed, "they were weak. I need someone who can challenge me if I want to get stronger. Orochimaru promised me power but what I have isn't enough to beat Itachi."

Kabuto held his hands up, "we know. Lord Orochimaru will bring in some people who can challenge you and give you the strength we promised. He has gone to collect material and opponents who can challenge you in the meantime, please rest and continue your usual training."

Naruto scratched his face as he looked at the various forms of sealing in front of him. "Hm, that's an explosive seal, and that's a flash bomb, and uh, that's...storage."

Jiraiya shook his head "you got the explosive and flash bomb mixed up." he pointed to some kanji "that right there is the easiest way to tell. Explosives will have a kanji for yield somewhere on them. Flash bombs don't have that, they typically have a duration kanji instead."

"Hm, that's kanji? I thought that was part of the matrix thingy."

"No, it's not, but remember some fuinjutsu will try to make it look like that to trip you up. You have to look closely and make sure."

Naruto scratched his head and huffed before he started looking over the different fuinjutsu in front of him. Jiraiya smiled as Naruto went over the material. He wasn't picking it up as fast as Minato, but there was potential there.

Sakura reached over to pluck some leaves when Shizune caught her eye, and she hesitated. "Why are you stopping Sakura-chan?"

"Um, you're looking at me like I might be doing this wrong."

"Oh, are you not confident in your choice? You studied, didn't you? You should be able to neutralize the poison if you did the work you were assigned last week."

Sakura straightened. "I did do the work... I'm sure of it, but your look."

Shizune circled her "are you letting another shinobi get in your head? You'll let someone else dictate your actions during a crisis? Hesitation could lead to your patient dying. Are you going to really let someone else possibly an enemy make you doubt yourself while you're trying to save someone's life?"

Sakura gulped and plucked the leaves. "No ma'am, I won't let others dictate my actions."

"Good now, finish the antidote and test it."

Sakura finished her mixture and dripped some poison onto the test scroll, then dripping antidote on it. She held her breath and watched and smiled as the poison was neutralized. Sakura pumped her fist and grinned at Shizune. "I did it, Shizune-san!" She bowed. "Thank you for your teachings today, ma'am."

Shizune smiled. "Glad you've learned a lot today. Now the Tsunade-sama has a lot of meetings so you can have the rest of the day off to do whatever you wish."

Sakura bowed one more time and left after thanking Shizune. Once she was home, she was gearing up to study and train in her yard when her parents came home. "Ah, Sakura, dear, how was your day?" her mother said.

"It was good. I learned a lot about poisons." Sakura said as she hugged both her parents.

Her father laughed and hugged her, "I'll need to stay on my wonderful daughter's good side, or I might find something unpleasant in my dinner."

Sakura laughed, "I would never, dad come on."

She noticed her mother pulling out storage scrolls in the kitchen. "Are you guys packing?"

Her mother nodded, "Yes, we'll be heading out on another mission; it'll be a couple months long. We'll be escorting a bureaucrat around to affirm some trade deals in and out of the Land of Fire."

Sakura fought down the pit in her stomach and smiled, "don't get yourselves into too much trouble this time; it'd be embarrassing if your genin daughter had to save you twice."

Her father acted like he had been wounded "do you hear these harsh words of our daughter. I knew she would hold that over us. She's out of control. next thing you know, she'll be declaring herself the head of the family."

Sakura's mother looked at her husband, "Oh, and who is the Haruno family's current head?"

Sakura smiled as her father dug a hole for himself. "I'm gonna get changed, then do some exercises outside."

Once she was well into her exercises, Ino hopped the fence and waved "heya Sakura."

Sakura stopped her push up midway and looked at her, confused. "Ino, it's the middle of the day; why aren't you just coming through the front door?"

Ino shrugged and sat by the tree, "was passing by on my way home and saw you out here. Figured I'd drop in and see how you're doing. You've been pretty busy lately being Tsunade-sama's student and all."

Sakura stretched and took a drink from her canteen. "yeah, it's been tough, but I've learned a lot from her and Shizune-san. Though the past couple of days, Tsunade-sama has been in meetings, and Shizune-san only has time for a couple lessons. I wonder if something is happening." Sakura looked over at Ino. "Ino, are you listening?"

Ino blinked, and her face flushed a bit as she looked away "yeah, I'm listening. Asume-sensei has also been cutting out training short to go to meetings, so I guess something is going on."

Sakura dropped back down and continued her work out "yeah, also, my parents are going off on another long term mission."

"Did you tell them not to get in trouble again?"

Sakura smiled as she kept doing her push-ups. "I told them it would be embarrassing if I had to save them a second time."

Ino laughed as she got comfortable in her spot. Sakura glanced over, "You should join me."

Ino shrugged, "I'm relaxing before I have to go home and do clan training. My dad has cranked it up into double-time since I messed up..."

Sakura finished her rep and hopped to her feet. "You know he's just worried about you. Knowing your dad, he probably feels responsible."

"Yeah, I feel pretty bad about making him worry." Ino looked at her friend as she sat next to her.

"So why are you here and not at home working with him?"

Ino huffed and turned her head away. "Like I said, I'm just trying to relax a bit before I get to my training."

"Hm, so it's totally not because, like you also said earlier, you're feeling bad about messing up."

Ino pulled her knees to her chin "being a clan heir is stressful, and then messing up like this. It was dangerous, and if my dad wasn't in the village when it happened, there aren't many others who could have pulled me back as well as he did. I got lucky that the aftermath of getting caught in a mental trap was so minor. It could have been much worse. I could have come back a completely different person or not at all."

Sakura put a hand on her friend's shoulder, and Ino leaned into her friend. Ino sniffled and held back tears. "They think I don't know, but I've heard the clan elders and other members talking about it. They've lost faith in me as the future leader."

Sakura adjusted and put her arm around Ino. "It'll be ok. I know you'll get stronger and prove them wrong. I'll support you as much as I can. You're my best friend, and I know you'll do great things."

Ino sniffed and whipped her eyes as she smiled. "Thanks, Sakura."

"No problem. I'm always here to help."

They sat like that under the tree for a few minutes before Ino squirmed and grumbled, "ugh, you're all sweaty get off me."

Sakura grinned and wrapped her arms around Ino, pulling her into a hug "you don't want my affection and support? After I graciously stopped my workout to talk and help you?"

Ino tried to get away, but Sakura was quick and pulled her friend back to her. "I appreciate you; I do, but you're all sweaty and gross. I don't want to be all sweaty and gross right now!"

"Then, you gotta get yourself free." Sakura attempted to pin her, but Ino slipped free and tried to put some distance between them. She was surprised when Sakura closed the distance and was pulling Ino back into a grapple.

Ino yelped and twisted herself out of the hold before jumping back "you're gonna make this difficult, aren't you?"

"Nothing worth pursuing is easy!" Sakura cried before running at Ino.

Ino sighed, "yeah, you're right about that."

Sakura's mother watched her daughter for a moment before shaking her head and heading back to finish packing.

Naruto ran through the hand seals as he fell back. "Futon: Air Bullets!" He sucked in a deep breath and rapidly fired a dozen shots at Jiraiya who's hair moved and blocked the bullets.

Jiraiya crouched down and launched himself at Naruto, engaging in taijutsu. Naruto was struggling to block the kicks and punches that came at him. Whenever there was an opening to strike back, Naruto would have to abandon the punch or kick as Jiraiya's hair shot around his body to protect or strike out at Naruto.

"Gah! You and Sakura, with your moving hair, it's so frustrating." Naruto said as he fell back and made several clones to surround his master.

Jiraiya laughed as he dodged the clones and threw them into each other "If you grow your hair out, I'll teach you how to do it."

"Pft no way! That would look weird on me." Naruto formed a Rasengan and rushed in.

Jiraiya grinned and formed his own Rasengan and made sure to throttle the power, so he didn't blow Naruto away completely. The two jutsu collided, and Jiraiya was surprised by how strong Naruto's jutsu was before it was destroyed, and Naruto was sent flying. His clones caught him and righted himself before making more clones, and they started to circle Jiraiya.

Air bullets came from all sides, and Jiraiya started to dodge the shots as he prepared his counter attack.

The fight went on for a few more minutes before Naruto was put on his back and didn't get up. "Ugh, everything hurts."

Jiraiya sat nearby "you have improved, so at least you got that going for you, kid. Rest up, we'll go over fuinjutsu once you're rested."

Naruto waved his hand weakly "yeah yeah, will do Pervy Sage."

Sasuke laid down on the operation table as Orochimaru and Kabuto moved around preparing equipment. "Once the procedure is over, your curse mark will be more efficient, and your control should be improved."

"Just get the procedure over with," Sasuke said as Kabuto brought over an anesthetic.


	17. Years Arc: The Chunin Exams

Sakura stood to the side of the Hokage's desk as the rest of the genin came in. Tsunade motioned for her to join them before she spoke, "This year's chunin exams have been decided. Things were hectic, so a neutral border country is going to hold them this year. Takigakure has agreed to hold them. This will be different than last time both Kumo and Iwa will be participating. Kiri may make an appearance, but it's doubtful they'll have participants. Rock Lee is still on a light workload while he gets to full strength, and the Hyuga clan has requested that Hinata-sama not participate, so Kiba Inuzuka, you'll be joining Team Guy, and Sakura Haruno you'll be joining team Ten for the exams. any complaints?"

"No, Hokage-sama!" the genin all said.

"Good, we'll be heading out in three weeks. Be on your best behavior, and do your best in the exams. Dismissed!"

Everyone went with their teams to start preparing for whatever could happen during the exams. Sakura followed Choji and Ino to their team's training ground, where Asuma was waiting. He smiled. "So the Hokage sent her own student to be on my team. I'm honored."

Sakura blushed and chuckled "please don't call me that Asuma-sensei. I'm just Sakura Haruno."

"Student of the Hokage," Ino said with a grin.

Sakura punched her arm as Asuma laughed, "don't be modest, Sakura-chan; you'll want people to know during the exams you're the Hokage's student. It'll be a good boost to your chances."

"Sounds like it's more stressful. People will go out of their way to take me out." Sakura grumbled.

Asuma laughed as he lit his cigarette. "Well, then we'll have to work on some drills and team exercises till it's time for the exams."

"Yes, sensei!" the three said before they started their training.

Once three weeks had passed, the genin and Tsunade flanked by Kakashi, Guy, Asuma, and Kurani stood by the main gate. Tsunade looked over the genin. "Listen up, brats! While you're representing our village, you behave. I know I already told you, but I need you to understand that things between Konoha and Iwa are rocky, and it's even worse with Kumo. They may try to provoke you or straight up attack you. Most of you are clan heirs, so be careful and stay in groups; no one goes anywhere alone. Understood!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" the group shouted.

"Good, then let's move out. Tsunade led the group out of the village and headed to Takigakure.

"Takigakure? Why are we going there?" Naruto asked as he finished off the popsicle Jiraiya got him.

Jiraiya opened a small notebook, "I have an informant there. I need to talk to, and I want to visit an old friend of mine."

Naruto scratched his chin as he chewed the stick from his popsicle "what's Takigakure like?"

"The village hidden in the waterfalls is considered one of the most well-hidden shinobi villages. They even have a Jinchūriki. They're the only ones outside the five elemental nations to have one."

Naruto's ears perked up. "There's someone like me?"

"Don't even think about it. It'll be dangerous to get involved. They stay neutral and are friendly to the other villages, but if they found out you were a Jinchūriki, and they caught you interacting with theirs, it could cause problems."

"Pft like I'd cause problems. I'm just interested in what they're like. The only other one I've met was Gaara, and we tried to kill each other most of the time."

Jiraiya smacked him on the top of his head. "Don't even try it, ya runt. When we get there, you do what I say, and you don't wander off, ya hear?"

"Yeah yeah, I hear ya pervy sage," Naruto said as they slung their bags on and moved out.

The Konoha group followed their guide through a waterfall into the village proper. The group looked around awestruck; most of them hadn't been to another shinobi village. Their guide led them to a circle of half a dozen buildings.

"This is Konoha's designated area. You may keep all your things here and rest between exams. There is a curfew for foreigners of eleven pm, but before then, you're free to enjoy everything our village has to its fullest." She bowed and left the Konoha group to get their things set up.

As the genin set up their sleeping arrangements, the jonin set up a barrier. Tsunade's eye twitched as she saw a mane of white hair followed by a shock of yellow shortly behind. "Why are they here?" she muttered.

Sakura walked over to her master. "Is everything alright, master?"

Tsunade turned her attention to her student "yes, everything is ok. Go double-check with your team and make sure you're ready for the exams they'll be starting tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am!" Sakura ran off to make sure Choji and Ino were prepared.

Naruto groaned as Jiraiya made him stand outside a sleazy bar in a back alley. It didn't take long before Naruto got bored and was considering ditching his master when he heard a commotion around the corner and went to investigate. Naruto clenched his teeth as he saw a few shinobi harassing a girl. They pushed her around and grabbed her hair as they threw insults. Naruto's blood ran cold as they called her a demon and a monster.

Fu was surprised as a smoke bomb exploded, and a hand grabbed her, pulling her away from her attacks. Naruto landed on the roof of a building near the main square, and Fu pulled her hand away "who are you? You're not from this village, are you ssu?"

Naruto grinned, "Nah, I'm from Konoha. I saw those guys picking on you, so I figured I'd help you out."

Fu took a step back, "you here for the chunin exams?"

Naruto laughed and opened his pack showing the chunin vest. "Nope, I already got promoted. I'm traveling with my master and training. He's here to talk to some old friend, but he's taking forever."

"You're a chunin ssu?" Fu said as she raised an eyebrow.

Naruto zipped his pack up. "Oi, you sound like you don't believe me."

"I didn't say that. I'm just saying you're kinda young ssu."

Naruto sat down and scoffed "you don't look much older than I am. I worked hard y' know. Even though they call me a monster."

Fu sat down nearby "they think you're a monster ssu?"

Naruto smiled sadly, "yeah, for as long as I can remember, I was hated called a demon and a monster."

"I've been called a monster since I was born as well, ssu."

"It's hard being like us," Naruto said as he looked over at her.

Fu eyed him. "I doubt we're in the exact same position, ssu."

Naruto lifted his jacket and circulated chakra through his stomach, making the seal appear. "You sure about that?"

Fu sucked in her breath. "They let you out of your village?"

Naruto nodded "yeah, I've gone on missions and left the village. This isn't even my first time leaving the Land of Fire."

Fu looked down at the village with sadness, "you're lucky. I'm stuck here almost all the time. Even if I do get to leave the village, I always have escorts who keep me from doing anything fun. I wanted to join the chunin exams this year, but the village leader said no ssu."

Sakura and the other genin were being led to the first exam, and she looked up and nearly tripped over her own feet as they came to a stop while their guide talked to a messenger that had shown up. Ino looked at her, "you ok?"

Sakura pointed up, "good thing Hinata's not here. That'd be a hit to her confidence."

The group looked up and saw Naruto talking to some girl with green hair. Ino groaned and rubbed her face, "what is he even doing here?"

"Naruto! What are you going here?!" Sakura yelled.

Naruto stopped laughing and looked down at them before grinning. He looked over to the girl he was sitting next to and talked to her before jumping down to the group. "Yo, everyone y'all here for the exams?"

"Yeah, what are you doing here? Other than hitting on some girl?" Kiba said with a grin.

Naruto blushed and waved his hand "no, no, not like that. I just helped her out, and we were talking about being shinobi gosh." he looked around. "Hinata and Busy Brows not here?"

Sakura shook her head "no, the Hyuga clan said she wouldn't be participating, and Lee is still technically recovering and getting back to full strength, so Tsunade-sama figured it would be best if he didn't participate."

Naruto frowned, "that's too bad; it would have been great to see everyone."

Ino smiled, "you sure you really missed all of us and not just one of us, particularly?"

Naruto blushed and waved his hands "it's not like that."

They weren't given much time to talk as their guide finished their discussion and led them in a new direction. "My apologies there was an issue with where the first exams would happen. If you'll follow me."

The genin were led to a large building and divided into groups. Sakura noticed that all the teams had been separated. They were led into various rooms full of other shinobi, and Sakura saw the Kumo shinobi glaring, especially hard at her and Neji. "Tenten and Ino got sent to their own room, and Kiba and Choji as well," Sakura whispered.

Neji nodded. "It looks like they don't want us working with our teams but don't mind if we're with fellow village members."

"Could be a written test like last year or maybe something where you can't be sure if your fellow comrade could be trusted."

Neji looked over the crowd, "we'll have to be on our toes."

A Taki chunin walked in. "Hello everyone, welcome to room three. I'll be your proctor for the first exam. Form a line, and we'll give you a number and take the seat corresponding to your number."

Everyone shuffled into place, and after a few minutes, everyone was seated, and several chunin passed out a sheet of paper. Sakura looked it over and realized it was one part of a code. The proctor cleared his throat "the first exam is a two-part exam. It's pretty straightforward. First, decode it, then meet up with your team in the main lobby. You have one hour to decode it. If you're caught looking at anyone else's progress, you and your team will be disqualified. Good luck."

Sakura glanced at Neji before they started. She scratched her head as she worked on the code. She was decent but not the best at code-breaking, and this was obviously well made. Time ticked on, and several people were caught cheating and dismissed. _'This doesn't feel like the last exams. I think we actually have to solve it ourselves.'_

After forty-five minutes, she cracked the code, and it came out to be a string of letters and numbers. _'Ah, shit, is it double coded?'_

Sakura's thoughts stopped as a chunin put a hand on her shoulder "you've done your part; you can go wait for your team."

Sakura slipped her paper into her pocket and left the room. She looked around the lobby and saw she was the only Konoha shinobi who had finished. Sakura spotted a familiar set of shinobi and walked over, "oh, hey, it's been a while."

Temari and Kankuro looked over, and Kankuro smirked, "look, it's pinky. How's it been going?"

Sakura huffed, "call me pinky again and see what happens."

Temari pulled her brother back before he could try to provoke Sakura "don't start a fight, Kankuro; it'll be embarrassing if you lose."

Sakura tried not to look smug as she said, "I think you mean when he loses."

Kankuro smiled. "Oh, you sound a lot more sure of yourself than the last exams."

"I've been training a lot with Lady Tsunade."

Kankuro smirked, "oh, so the rumors about her taking on a student that no one had heard of are true."

"No one's heard of me yet, but they will after I beat you and anyone else who comes at me."

Temari laughed, "oh, please beat up my brother; he's been getting a big head recently.

"Temari, aren't you supposed to support your family over some random chick."

Sakura huffed, "some random chick? And here I thought we were friends nowadays. I spare your lives; you save my friends' lives that makes us friends."

The Suna siblings looked at each other, surprised by the statement. Sakura looked over and smiled, "wow, Ino, that took you a while. Your dad's gonna make you spend time in T&I if he hears about this."

Ino punched her shoulder, "not a word out of you. I'll buy whatever you want to keep you quiet."

Sakura smiled. "Hm, I'll think about it."

"You're the best friend ever, you know."

"Yeah, I know."

The group stood around talking, and eventually, Gaara showed up and stood near his siblings. The rest of the Konoha shinobi came out as well, and Kiba said, "I noticed something weird while I was doing the code thing."

The others perked up and looked over as he spoke, "They called you out on cheating but as long as it wasn't obvious, you could work with people from your village. Choji and I worked together to crack our codes; they're also different."

Everyone looked over the codes they had deciphered and saw they were all different. Sakura rubbed her chin, "wonder what we'll have to do with this now."

As the last participants to pass entered the lobby, a new chunin showed up and stood on a reception desk "alrighty, you all have passed the first part of the first exam. You now have five hours to crack the team's code and find the lockbox. Bring it back to this location, and you will pass the first exam. Your time starts now!"

"Let's get away from the other teams for now," Sakura said, leading the others out of the lobby.

Once they were on a roof away from the others, they pulled out their paper and looked over the numbers and letters. Sakura scratched her head "they probably have to be in order... what room were you in Choji?"

"Room one."

"I was in room two," Ino said as Sakura put the pieces of paper in order.

"I was in room three, so if we line them up, this should be the complete code. Now, all we have to do is decode the whole thing," Sakura said.

Hours passed, and Sakura cursed and grabbed a fist full of chips that Choji had been eating out of. "This is hard. A lot harder than the other one was."

Neji's team appeared, and he asked, "are you struggling with the code?"

Sakura huffed. "Yeah, are you guys having any better luck?"

Tenten shook her head, "no, we haven't figured it out either."

"Should we work together to crack it then?" Ino asked as she looked over the two sets of code.

Kiba groaned and scratched his head "this stuff makes no sense to me."

Another thirty minutes passed before Ino tapped Sakura's shoulder and pointed to a sign above a restaurant. "Don't the numbers above the sign look like the code?"

Sakura looked at the sign seeing a string of numbers and letters. Other signs also had them. The third sign she saw matched her third of the code "the signs have something to do with the code... everyone scatter and find your part of the code write it down, then we'll meet up here and get to work."

The six of them scattered to find their parts. Sakura wrote down the part of the sign that had her code on it. She tensed when she felt three people land nearby. Sakura turned as she grabbed a kunai from her pouch but stopped when she saw the Suna Siblings. "Oh, it's just you three."

Temari looked around, "where's your team?"

"Working on breaking the code. I could tell you what we learned, but it'll cost you."

Kankuro huffed, "oh, what are you asking for?"

Sakura grinned, "I want samples of your poison, and in exchange, I'll tell you what we figured out."

"Wha- why should I give you that?"

Sakura shrugged, "You don't have to. I won't give you the info I have unless you do. It's your choice to make puppet boy."

Temari stifled a laugh as Kankuro grumbled. "Give her the poison Kankuro, it's the fastest way to get the info," Gaara said from the back of the group.

Kankuro tensed but sighed, "alright, fine."

Sakura smiled happily as she collected her samples and told them what her team found. They left with Kankuro grumbling about it not being worth it. Ino and the others showed up a few minutes later, and Ino asked, "what are you smiling about?"

"I'll tell ya about it later. Let's get to work; we've got a few hours left."

After some time, they pieced together that the numbers correspond to the letter in the alphabet. The letters in the code matched to address numbers of the signs. "Looks like it's an address. Alright, let's head out." Sakura said as her team took off to their location.

They found the address in the warehouse district, and the team split up, found the box quickly, brought it back to where the exam had started, and handed over the lockbox. The woman at the counter smiled and pulled out a key, and unlocked the box. She pulled out a red scroll with black koi along the edges. "Ah, you've got the red koi scroll. Hold onto it; you'll need it for the second exam. Congratulations on your passing of the first exam."

Sakura took the scroll and tucked it into her weapon pouch and bowed, "thank you very much."

They left and headed back to the Konoha temporary housing, where the other team was already waiting. Kiba grinned, "Took you guys long enough."

Tenten rolled her eyes "don't try to act like we blasted through that Kiba-kun. We just got lucky with our lockbox being close to the start point."

Ino groaned, "I knew I should have paid more attention to code-breaking when dad went over it."

Sakura sat next to her "we all should probably work on our code-breaking when we get back to the village. For now, does anyone have ideas about the second exam?"

Neji patted his weapon pouch "we'll probably have to deliver the scroll from the box or retrieve another scroll like the last exam."

"Yay, more survival training." Ino groaned.

Sakura laughed, "We all survived last year's survival portion, so we should be fine this time around."

The genin sat around for several hours, discussing and strategizing for possible exams that will happen tomorrow.


	18. Years Arc: Chunin Exams and Friends

The genin were woken up before the sun rose and brought to area pass the Sakura looked around and saw that a little over half the original teams had passed the first exam.

"You guys better be sure to pass. The third exam won't be any fun if there's no one worth fighting," Kankuro said as his team arrived.

Sakura smiled "same goes for you. I want a rematch with your sister, so you best make it."

Temari scoffed, "think you can put up a better fight than last time? I sure hope, so our last fight was a little bit too boring for my taste."

"Oh, trust me, the next time we fight Temari-chan, you won't be bored, I promise."

A Chunin stepped up on a temporary podium and clapped his hands "alright, you brats, listen up. You all were given a scroll, either a red koi or a white dove. You need to deliver the scroll to a tower corresponding to your scroll. The tower locations are in the other scroll, and one other thing only the first three teams to each tower will pass. You will be led to your starting points and sent on your ways."

Various Taki chunin led the teams into the woods and pointed them north before letting the exam start. Sakura's team took off and spoke as they ran, "so we should track down another team and try to strike a deal with them. It'll be easier than fighting them and taking the scroll." Sakura said as the other two fell in behind her.

Choji nodded, "sounds good to me; what about you, Ino?"

Ino nodded, "I'm good with that. I want to avoid fighting for as long as possible."

"Now, all we have to do is find another team with the dove scroll," Sakura said as they climbed higher in the trees to see if they could spot anyone.

After several minutes Sakura stopped their movement and crouched on her branch as she whispered, "twelve o'clock there's a trap up ahead."

Ino and Choji spotted the trip wires set up in the trees, "should we drop down or go around it?" Ino asked.

"Let's head west and go around. Take it slow and-" Sakura leaned back and kicked off her branch as several shurikens landed where she was standing.

Choji and Ino jumped back as several Kumo shinobi landed nearby with swords drawn. Sakura took her position between her teammates as the third Kumo shinobi landed. The center shinobi grinned "oh good; we found some Konoha punks first. I'm going to enjoy taking you lot down."

Sakura raised her hands "wait, let's talk. If we have different scrolls, we can just show them to each other and go our separate ways."

The girl on the left spoke up, "why should we make a deal with you when we can just take you out permanently."

Sakura gritted her teeth and crouched, "So you three really won't even try negotiation? Fine, we can fight it out."

The tree splintered as she pushed off, and her fist collided with the rightmost Kumo shinobi. They heard a cracking noise as his ribs broke, and Sakura sent him flying. The other Kumo shinobi looked over in surprise, giving Ino a chance to take over one of their minds as Choji used his partial expansion to smack the last one to the ground.

Ino released her jutsu as Sakura knocked him out. They tied them up and patted the group down, and found a koi scroll. Sakura huffed and tossed it over her shoulder "great; we wasted time anyway. Come on, let's go."

The team moved out and continued searching for either the tower or another team to make a deal. It didn't take long to run into Temari and her brothers, who were more than willing to show their scroll, which was luckily a dove scroll. They traded location info and went their separate ways without any incident.

"It's gonna take at least two days to get there as long as we don't run into any trouble on the way," Sakura said as they moved toward their destination.

Once it was well into the night, Sakura's team set up camp in the trees, and Sakura took the first watch. As she stood on a branch, she saw two Kumo shinobi moving through the brush. Sakura crouched and suppressed her presence even more as they passed. "You're pretty good at hiding in a tree, but that should be expected from a Konoha girl."

Sakura jumped back and pulled a kunai out as she examined the Kumo boy who stood up and waved, "don't worry, we already know where we need to go, and none of my teammates feel like fighting right now. I'm a sensor type, but I almost didn't notice you, so I just had to stop and give you props, Pinky."

Sakura huffed, "call me pinky again, and you won't make it to the tower."

"Hahaha, feisty. I hope you make it to the third exam. You seem like you'd be fun to fight."

With that, he disappeared into the forest, leaving Sakura to huff and sit back on her branch and keep watch till her turn was up. Sakura was glad the night went by without much disturbance after that. Ino tapped her shoulder, "Hey, you can go to sleep. I'll take over."

Sakura put her forehead on Ino's shoulder "ugh, thanks Ino. I had a run-in with some Kumo shinobi."

"What? Why didn't you wake us up?" Ino said, grabbing Sakura's shoulders.

"Because nothing happened. He managed to sneak up on me, but he just said he wanted to compliment me on hiding. They left without trying to fight or anything."

Ino patted her head and sighed, "you got lucky then. Get some sleep, alright." Sakura nodded and dropped down to take Ino's sleeping place.

The next day Sakura stretched and looked around "how were things during your watch Choji-kun?"

Choji shrugged, "nothing happened. It was pretty dull, which I'm glad about."

Ino stretched and got up, "we should head out quickly if we wanna make it in time."

Sakura nodded as she finished off her ration bar, "let's double-time it today."

Naruto yawned as he stood across the street from another bar. This time around, he had been told to wait outside while Jiraiya talked to Tsunade and some other people he didn't recognize. He hoped Sakura and the others were doing alright on their exams.

"Hey Naruto-kun, what are you doing, ssu?"

Naruto looked up and saw Fu walking up. "Nothing just waiting for the Pervy Sage. He said I had to wait out here while he took care of business."

Fu sat next to Naruto and looked at the bar entrance "that sounds pretty boring, ssu."

Naruto nodded and suppressed a yawn "yeah, I'd prefer if we were training like he promised, but he said this stuff was important."

"You wanna train with me, ssu?"

Naruto grinned but quickly rubbed his chin in thought. "Hm, Pervy Sage did tell me to wait, and technically he didn't want the two of us to interact, but you know what? he's making me wait out here instead of training me, so hell yeah, do you know somewhere we can spar?"

Fu smiled and nodded, "yep, follow me, ssu."

She took off and led him to a clearing in trees between two training fields. "This is my personal training area ssu." she rubbed the back of her neck, "though no one actually knows I claimed this area ssu."

Naruto smiled as he looked around and said, "I had my own secret training area behind the academy back home. I'd spend so much time there trying to get the academy basics down."

"Did your Bijuu not help you?"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow "what? Why would he help me? He hates me. The only time he talks to me is when he tries to take control."

Fu seemed to deflate, "I guess not all of us have good relations with our Bijuu, huh, ssu?"

"You have a good relationship with yours?"

Fu nodded, "yep, Chōmei, the Nanabi, and I get along pretty well. He likes to say he's my lucky charm, ssu."

"Wait, do the Bijuu have names? I figured their names were just the number of tails they have."

"Yes, ssu. They don't like to tell people their names, but if you can get along with them and they trust you, they will tell you. Which one do you have, ssu?"

Naruto huffed, "Kyuubi, he's a pretty angry fox."

He looked up and saw Fu's shocked face "what? Is he weird or something?"

"Uh, well, I've talked to Chōmei a bit about the other Bijuu, and he said the only tailed beast that hates people more than the Ichibi is the Kyuubi. They're all weary and have varying relations with their host, but The Kyuubi is the most hateful towards people."

Naruto gripped his jacket and stared at the floor. "I wonder what happened to make him like that."

Fu smiled sadly, "who knows but hey, let's not get down. How about I show you something cool, ssu."

Naruto looked up with interest, "something cool? What a jutsu or something?"

Fu smiled as she took several steps back, "more like something that only I can do because I have Chōmei ssu." Naruto stared in awe as Fu sprouted a set of dragonfly wings and started to hover a few feet above the ground.

"Wow, that's... really frickin cool! Does Chōmei have wings? Or can he like make things you want?!"

Fu laughed and landed. "Chōmei has wings, and since he lets me, I'm able to manifest some of them and fly. I don't know what the other jinchūriki can do though I've never met others ssu."

Naruto nodded. "I've met one other before you. His name is Gaara, and he has Ichibi in him. He carried a gourd of sand around with him that would swirl around and protect him without him having to do anything."

"Wow, that's pretty cool, ssu."

"Yeah, but that's enough talking. Come on; let's fight. I wanna see what you can do!" Naruto said excitedly as he got ready for a sparring match.

Fu smiled and dropped into her favored taijutsu stance. "I'm ready whenever you are Naruto-kun."

Sakura, Ino, and Choji panted as they arrived at the Koi tower base and handed their scroll to the shinobi waiting for them. The woman smiled, "congratulations, you're the second team to arrive. You pass the second exam."

Ino yelled in excitement and pulled Choji and Sakura into a hug as they bounced. The shinobi guided them in and let them rest and wait for the last team to arrive. After some time, a team from Iwa showed up, and the exam was called after some exchange between the towers. Sakura's team and the Kumo shinobi she recognized from the first night and the Iwa team were brought into the tower's arena.

The same woman who had greeted them stood atop a podium "hello to the nine winners of the Koi scroll. You have all passed the second exam, and as such, you are eligible for the third exam. Though with eighteen current participants, we feel it may be too many fights for our guests to sit through, and we do wish to show them the best of the best, so in each tower, we will hold preliminary matches. One of you will be sent to the third exam without a preliminary match. We took the time to examine you all during your first and second exams, and we have decided that Azuraki from Kumogakure will skip the prelims."

Sakura looked over and grimaced as she saw the Kumo boy from her first night on watch. In the light, she managed to get a good look at him this time. He had brown eyes, and his blond hair was cut short and shaved on the sides. He waved and gave an irritating smile as he said, "wow, lucky me guess I'll just have to sit back and watch everyone else have fun today."

Everyone took their places and watched as the first match started. By the end of the day, Sakura, Ino, Nida, one of the Iwa shinobi, Neji, Tenten, Kirisu, one of Azuraki's teammates, and the Suna siblings had all passed the prelims. The matches were set Tenten vs. Temari, Nida vs. Kankuro, Gaara vs. Neji, Azuraki vs. Sakura, and Ino vs. Kirisu.

Naruto was sitting around Konoha's designated area as the rest of the genin approached. He waves, "Hey guys, I'm heading out, so I figured I'd stop by and say goodbye before Pervy Sage and I leave. How'd the second exam and prelims go?"

Ino smirked, "Kiba-kun and Choji sadly lost other than that, we're all headed to the third exam."

Naruto laughed and patted Kiba on the shoulder, "always next year."

Kiba brushed him off and huffed, "Yeah yeah, whatever. I'll make up for it by getting to Jonin before any of you."

The group laughed and chatted until Jiraiya showed up, and he and Naruto left. On their way out of the village, Fu ran up and gave Naruto a quick hug "be safe out there, and don't let the fox talk smack to you ssu."

Naruto grinned, "I'll do my best, and you should be careful too. Remember to look out for those guys I mentioned. They were interested in me, so there's a chance they might take an interest in you too."

Fu nodded, "I'll keep an eye out. Though I'm sure Chōmei and I could handle them ssu."

With their goodbyes said, the two of them split at the front gate, and once Naruto was out of the village, Jiraiya smacked him upside the head. "You little brat, I told you not to interact with her, and what did you do? You went and made friends and warned her about the Akatsuki."

Naruto grumbled but stopped when Jiraiya patted him on the back and smiled, "good job, kid."

Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "She's in the same situation as me. I can't just sit back and do nothing y' know."

Ino nudged Sakura, "Hey, you wanna go get something to eat? See if they have anything good around here?"

Sakura sat up in her cot and shrugged, "yeah. Hey guys, you wanna come with?!"

Ino deflated a bit as the others decided to join in, and the six of them informed Kakashi before leaving in search of food. The six of them walked the streets of Taki and eventually found an open-air cafe and sat down to eat and talk about the exams. Ino smiled. "Is it me, or do these exams feel easier than last year?"

Sakura scoffed, "says the girl who was complaining about the first exam."

She let Ino punch her shoulder and laughed before standing. "I'm gonna get some more dango. You guys want anything?"

Sakura took Choji and Tenten's orders before moving through the small crowd back to the counter to order. She smiled, placed her order, and stepped to the side to wait as she stood there, she felt a presence run up behind her. Sakura turned, pushing the hand clutching a kunai towards the ground and punching the would-be attack in the chest, sending him flying back.

The chatter stopped immediately, and everyone looked at Sakura and the Kumo genin, trying to catch his breath on the floor. Sakura sighed, "you're from the second exam. We ran into each other on the first day."

His teammates showed up and helped him up, the three of them glaring at her. The middle one caught his breath and said, "it's your fault we lost. You tossed our scroll away and left us tied up."

Sakura glanced over and saw several of her friends had disappeared, probably to come up from behind if a fight broke out. "Yeah, I did. We could have left you in a much worse way. Instead of attacking me out in the open, you really should have waited for a better time, like if I strayed from the group."

She could tell she was getting on their nerves, but they attacked her, so she didn't care about what they felt. The kunoichi of the group glared "don't act so high and mighty just because you won on a surprise attack-"

"We're shinobi, we should always be alert and ready for anything, and we cover our bases. Only one of you attacked me, and the three of you have been so distracted glaring at me you didn't notice my comrades have you surrounded, so if you want to fight me, you'll have to fight all of us." Sakura said as Neji, Kiba, and Tenten made themselves known behind the Kumo shinobi. Ino and Choji walked up to flank Sakura as well.

The three shinobi looked between themselves before leaving and throwing some choice words at the six of them. Sakura collected her order, and the group sat down as the cafe started to go about its business.

After a few moments of silence, Ino said, "so do we need to tell anyone about that?"

"It would probably be a good idea," Tenten said as she sipped her tea.

Sakura shrugged, "I'm sure we should, but nothing happened, so I think we can just let it go this time."

"And if they try again?" Neji asked

"Then I'll actually punch them. My team beat them once we can do it again."

With that excitement over, the group finished eating and headed back to their area and told Tsunade about what happened. She sighed and looked over her genin "you lot get into trouble everywhere you go."

Sakura bowed, "We're sorry, Tsunade-sama. I hope this won't cause any issues for the exams."

Tsunade patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, you were attacked, and you didn't rough them up much, so Kumo won't dare press the issue." Sakura saw the tension in her master's shoulders as she walked over to talk to the jonin.

After some hushed discussion, Tsunade turned, "alright, you brats, you need to get ready for the third exam tomorrow, go rest up and strategize."


	19. Years Arc: Chunin Exams Tournament

Tsunade took her seat and looked over at the other end of the Hokages box at Lady Chiyo. "Thought you were retired or dead by now."

Chiyo scowled and looked over. "I see the years haven't helped you learn any manners, slug princess. I was asked to step in temporarily until these youngsters can sort themselves out. Unlike you, I wasn't forced to come back to my home."

Tsunade scoffed and was ready to bite back when the Raikage entered shortly, followed by the Tsuchikage. Tsunade hummed and looked back out over the arena, _'wonder what those two were discussing before they showed up.'_

The Tsuchikage grinned, "allies shouldn't argue so blatantly out in the open, you know, slug princess."

Lady Chiyo laughed "allies. Everyone knows there are no real allies here. We're all just waiting for the right time to kill the other."

"Perhaps for the old and senile generation that you two belong to, but I for one would be perfectly happy if there was no more war," Tsunade said, making sure to look at the Raikage who simply huffed and looked out to the arena.

Their argument didn't get a chance to take off as the arena's main gates opened, and the genin entered. Sakura looked up and bowed to Tsunade, who gave a slight nod of encouragement.

"So it's true you took on a student Princess. I wonder if she's any better than the first student you took. Though I doubt a shinobi from a formally civilian family will accomplish much." The Tsuchikage said, grinning as Tsunade tried not to just rush the old cogger for insulting both her students.

Tsunade took a deep breath and glared at the old man. "Sakura Haruno is more than capable, and she will prove it in this tournament."

They all noticed the Raikage's annoyance as he growled, "Haruno."

Tsunade cleared her throat "that is a separate matter that we've already discussed, Raikage-sama. Today we are here to see how our shinobi have progressed."

Ino bumped shoulders with Sakura, "you nervous?"

Sakura looked at Azuraki, who was whispering to his teammate "a little bit. He got to see me fight, but I don't know a thing about him. What about you?"

Ino hummed, "She looks tough, but she uses chakra blades like Asuma-sensei's, so I should be able to take her since she's nowhere near as good with them as he is."

Taki's leader gave his speech and went to join the Kage while the first match between Tenten and Temari started. Temari smiled "wow, just like old times ey Tenten-chan. Wonder if you'll be able to last longer this time."

Tenten scowled and pulled the large scroll off her back "we'll see about that. You best put up your best fight because I plan on doing the same."

Temari unfurled her fan. "I never hold back against you, Konoha shinobi."

Sakura watched as Tenten opened up with a volley kunai that Temari swatted away with ease. "Did you not learn anything from our last fight. Your projectiles will never reach me."

Tenten smiled, "don't be too sure about that. The fight's just started."

Sakura leaned forward in her seat in the participant's box as she watched the fight progress. Tenten's weapons were scattered all around the field, and Temari stood in the middle without a scratch on her. "No offense Tenten-chan but you're kinda one-note. Being an expert with weapons will only get you so far."

Tenten snapped her scroll shut with a flick of her wrist and pulled out two smaller ones. "Yeah, being a weapons expert won't get me far enough." she threw the scrolls in the air and put her hands together in the ram sign. "That's why I use Fuinjutsu as well."

Temari flicked her hand open and prepared to blast away whatever projectiles the scrolls produced. She wasn't ready for flash bombs to appear and detonate almost immediately. As Temari used her fan to block the blinding light, the projectiles around the arena shot ninja wires from seals. Some of the wire connected to other weapons and those that missed were grabbed by Tenten using chakra threads. She flicked her wrist and made some of the weapons rise into the air, creating a net around Temari.

As the flash-bang faded, Temari quickly realized she was surrounded by ninja wire and weapons. "Tsk damn it." she unfurled her fan to the full three moons and let loose a maelstrom of Futon.

Tenten dug in and pulled the wires hard, tightening the net of weapons, but the wires were ripped from her hands, and the net was broken. As the whirlwind died down, Temari stood in the middle, panting with several cuts along her arms and legs. "Look at that you managed to put a few scratches on me."

Tenten winced, looking down at the cuts on her hands "yeah, I did." she clenched her fist and charged Temari, grabbing kunai on the ground as she ran.

Sakura cocked her eyebrow as Temari snapped her fan shut and engaged in taijutsu with Tenten. "Oi Kankuro, why isn't Temari using her Futon?"

Kankuro scoffed, "why should I divulge that you're the enemy today."

Sakura sighed, "and here I was going to keep your poisons to myself, but I guess if you want I can show them to Tsunade-sama she'd probably be more than happy to help me break them down and learn all that makes them tick." Sakura pointed up, "Of course I'd have to go to the Hokage's box to talk to her, and I'm sure if that's who I think it is representing your village, she won't be happy to hear you've given Konoha samples of your poison."

Kankuro cursed, "damn pinky, when did you get ruthless?"

Sakura smiled. "I have to do what I have to do. Now spill it. Is she just confident or what?"

"She's probably running low on chakra. That fan helps reduce the amount she needs to use, but that big storm just now ate up a lot of her reserves. She doesn't want it to get too low; she might not be able to recover enough for her match tomorrow."

Sakura scoffed, "So confident she'll win this time."

Kankuro shrugged "she won the last fight against that girl. I don't see why she won't win this time as well."

They looked over as an explosion rocked the arena and threw Temari and Tenten to opposite ends. Both kunoichi staggered to their feet before staring each other down. Tenten fell to her knees and collapsed nearly at the same time as Temari. The proctor for the exam looked up to the Hokage's box and, after a few moments, nodded and declared the match a draw with both sides eliminated.

The medics carted the two kunoichi away, and other shinobi cleaned up all the weapons on the field. Once things were done, Nida of Iwa, a large, heavyset boy with dark hair and eyes, stepped down into the arena and smiled, "come on down, puppet boy, let's see what's stronger your little dolls or my fist."

Kankuro ground his teeth, "oh, I'm gonna enjoy putting him down." He dropped down into the arena as he unfurled crow from his back.

Nida cracked his knuckles and sank into the earth quickly as the match started and reappeared behind Kankuro, who nimbly dodged and put crow between them again. Crow fired off his poisoned senbon, and Kankuro cursed as the senbon bounced off Nida's skin. "Let me guess you have some kind of earth armor on now, don't you?"

Nida smiled, "you figured it out quick."

Kankuro sighed, "my little brother has a similar jutsu. Good thing too because now I know what to do." He pulled a second scroll out, summoning black ant.

Nida charged and met the puppets head-on, batting away their various projectiles. As he closed in, Kankuro moved Black Ant to flank Nida as Crow produced two swords and moved in to attack. Nida dodged the blades and fell back.

Neji hummed, "That Nida guy is building up chakra for something."

Sakura looked over and saw his byakugan active and sighed, "It must be nice to get such a detailed look at potential enemies like this."

"I plan on watching all the fights this closely." Everyone in the box understood the implications of that and shifted in their seats.

Kankuro pumped his fist as Nida was locked into Black Ant. He started dismantling Crow "best yield Iwa. I doubt your armor can handle this many swords, and I poison all my weapons."

Black Ant started to rumble and shake before its stomach shattered, and bits of earth rained down. Kankuro pulled Crow back "tsk damn it, he blew the earth armor off and busted Black Ant open."

Nida smiled and slipped back into the ground and popped back out after a moment. Crow was already rushing Nida, who engaged in taijutsu with the puppet and tried to get past it to rush Kankuro, who was putting Black Ant back together.

Crow fell back and fired a volley of kunai with explosive tags from its mouth. Nida tried to jump back but felt something grab him and keep him from moving back too far. Nida cursed and looked down, seeing chakra threads attached to him. The kunai landed and exploded around him and kicked up dust.

As the dust settled, Kankuro smiled and moved his puppets into place. Nida tried to avoid the senbon spray from both puppets, but his armor was chipping. Once Nida had distance from the puppets, he jumped up and prepared his jutsu so he could drop into the earth and refresh his armor, but a kick to his lower back broke his concentration, and he fell on his face.

Nida quickly recovered, seeing he was surrounded by Kankuro and his puppets. Kankuro smiled. "Did you think because I use puppets, I can't kick your ass myself?"

Kankuro twitched his fingers, and his puppets fired more explosive kunai. Niba braced, and his armor was broken by the explosion. He was sent flying towards Kankuro, who had a kunai at the ready. Niba twisted his body as he flew but felt the kunai drag across his exposed arm.

The Iwa shinobi tumbled to the ground and got up shakily as he felt the poison do its work. Kankuro smiled, "don't worry, I'm not using a deadly one, but you will be knocked out in a couple minutes. You should probably just yield now, so you don't get hurt."

Nida smiled, "so I have a few minutes to knock you out before I pass out."

A few minutes later, Tsunade smiled. It would have been more satisfying for one of her shinobi to take down the old fence-sitters only genin to make it to the third round. "I see Iwa didn't bring their best to this chunin exam. Let me guess the good ones are all at home waiting for when you get to hold the exams."

The Tsuchikage sneered, "perhaps they are. Though do you have room to talk? The first Konoha brat to go up knocked herself out."

"And yet she also took down her enemy. A good shinobi doesn't leave the job to someone else. They finish the assignment even if it costs them."

Ino and Kirisu, a dark-skinned girl with short black hair and dark eyes, dropped into the arena. Sakura chewed her lip as she looked over Ino's opponent. Kirisu stood at least a head taller than Ino. "damn, she's got some muscles on her. She's probably a taijutsu specialist," Sakura said.

Azuraki gave that annoying smile of his "She is our taijutsu and close quarters specialist. There's no other genin who can beat her in hand to hand combat. She's even taken down several chunin in sparring matches. Your friend is a Yamanaka, so she's definitely going to lose. Though maybe you or the Hyuga could actually give her a fair fight."

Sakura crossed her arms, "doubting Ino is exactly why this fight isn't going to go how you think it is."

Kirisu smiled as she slipped on her chakra blades, "so blondie, are you just looks, or can you actually put up a decent fight?"

Ino did a couple quick stretches and grinned, "thanks, and yeah, I think you'll find I can put up a good fight. Might put up too much of a fight for you to handle."

The match started, and Kirisu immediately rushed in close and started to throw punches. Ino dodged and redirected punches away from her as best she could. Her defense was holding for now, but Sakura saw the signs of it slipping. Ino surprised her by partially sinking into the ground to avoid a punch and delivering a series of jabs to Kirisu's stomach.

Ino slipped all the way under the ground as Kirisu tried to punch down at her. Ino reappeared a few feet from Kirisu and said, "Shinranshin no Jutsu."

Kirisu tried to rush Ino, but her legs wouldn't move. "What the hell did you do?"

Sakura saw Ino was struggling as she smiled. "Mind-Body Disturbance. You don't control your body anymore. I do." Kirisu suddenly dragged her chakra blades across her thighs. Kirisu cursed, and her arms trembled as she tried to resist Ino, who was starting to pant.

Kirisu's left arm suddenly jerked upwards as her right blade sunk into her leg. "Ow, you fuck! I'm going to put you in the ground for that one."

Ino staggered as she released the jutsu, and Neji said as he deactivated his byakugan. "she's probably new to using that jutsu; it's taken a lot out of her, but she did get a good hit in."

The crowd cheered as Kirisu powered through and broke Ino's defense and landed a solid blow to her abdomen. Sakura was surprised again as Ino's hair shot forward and stabbed into Kirisu's arm and shoulder. Kirisu unclenched her fist and grabbed Ino by her shirt before lifting the girl and slamming her into the ground as Ino's hair pulled out of Kirisu's arm.

Ino coughed up blood as she was slammed into the ground again before getting kicked into the arena wall. Sakura cringed, looking at the nasty gash across Ino's stomach and blood dripping from her broken nose. Ino stumbled to her feet as her hand lit up with the green tint of healing chakra, and she pressed it to her stomach. Neji looked at Sakura "have you been helping her train?"

Sakura smiled and shook her head. "No, I didn't. I did encourage her to train harder, though."

Kirisu smiled, "good, heal yourself up. I'm not done beating you down yet."

As Ino finished healing her stomach, Kirisu tied some cloth around her wound to help stop the bleeding, then charged Ino and channeled chakra into her blades. Kirisu's slashes were slower, but so was Ino, who staggered backward, her arms covered in cuts. "I-I yield the fight."

Kirisu spit and slipped her blades into her weapon pouch "you put up a good fight but not good enough."

Ino grinned, "yeah yeah, I know."

The medics came out and escorted the two kunoichi to the medical area.

Azuraki smiled, "come along, Pinky, it's time for our fight."

Sakura sighed, "you're gonna regret calling me Pinky again."

She stepped past him and hopped into the arena quickly, followed by Azuraki. The crowd murmured about this matchup. Sakura ignored the obvious ones of her being a kunoichi against one of the shinobi who got to skip the prelims. People countered that with the fact that she was Tsunade's current student, and that had to mean she was skilled. Sakura swelled with pride and looked at her opponent, who whistled, "I didn't know you were the Hokage's student. I'm impressed. I guess this fight is going to be more fun than I thought."

The match started, and Azuraki ran through hand signs and punched the ground, making a dust cloud filled the air. Sakura could sense the chakra in the air keeping the dust cloud from dispersing quickly. She ducked at the last second as a fist flew past her Sakura kicked behind her from her crouched position but hit nothing but dust.

"Oh, you've got good senses to hear me coming, but I know you're not a sensor, so you're at a disadvantage here."

Sakura clenched her teeth and ran forward to where she was pretty sure the middle of the arena was. She cleared her thoughts and channeled chakra into her ears and nose to feel out where Azuraki would come from. She heard the crunching of dirt from her left and turned, powering her fist like Tsunade taught her and slamming her fist into the ground.

The crowd cheered as the stadium shook, and bits of rock shot up into the sky along with Azuraki, who was looking quite shocked as he laid on a piece of debris. Seven Sakura's jumped out of the cloud and towards Azuraki, who smiled and threw shuriken at all of them. Sakura took the shuriken to the arm and twirled, delivering a glancing blow to Azuraki that sent him falling back into the dust.

Sakura fell back into the dust, pulled the shuriken out of her arm, and then healed it quickly. Azuraki laughed, and Sakura could hear him catching his breath "that's some crazy power your teacher must be proud of you."

Sakura grunted and staggered as she was kicked in the back, "I try my best to make her proud." She focused her senses and smelled him coming from directly in front of her. Sakura channeled her chakra and made a mudslide throwing Azuraki off balance. Sakura punched the ground again, breaking up the earth around him. Sakura picked up a chunk of earth and hurled it at Azuraki, who barely dodged it before disappearing in the dust cloud.

He smiled, "I'm not the best at direct confrontation, but even so, it's not usually this hard."

Sakura smiled, "compared to Zabuza Momochi's hiding in the mist, your attempt at hiding in the dust is pathetic." She took some satisfaction in the crowd's reaction and Azurakis face.

Azuraki shook his head in surprise and smiled, "alright, I was going easy, but I'll give it my all this time." he kicked up his dust cloud again, and they were back to square one.

Sakura looked around, using her chakra to enhance her senses. It was different this time; she didn't hear anything until the last second when she felt how close he was. The kunai sank into the back of her shoulder, and Azuraki was already fading back into the dust before Sakura could turn on him. She pulled the kunai out and healed her wound. Azuraki whistled, "mystic palms, you're like a mini Tsunade, it's adorable."

Sakura gritted her teeth and channeled her chakra to prepare for the next attack. Like the first time, Azuraki was nearly on top of her before she could tell where he was, but unlike the first time, Sakura was ready, and her hair shot out like blades to her right shoulder. Azuraki cursed as one of them sliced up his arm, and was forced to fall back. This game continued with either Azuraki landing a hit or Sakura slashing him with her hair.

As it went on, Sakura was missing more and more, and the nicks and shallow cuts would burn through her chakra too much to heal. She gritted her teeth and said, "Alright, fuck this, I'm ending it!"

Sakura punched the ground pulling a good-sized boulder from the ground and threw it up into the air. The crowd cheered as she jumped and landed on it, facing the ground. Sakura channeled all her chakra and pushed off the boulder back to the ground, where she delivered a punch at the maximum power she could muster. The arena walls cracked as the ground was torn up, and the dust cloud was blown away. Azuraki was thrown off balance, and Sakura charged him and rammed into him with her shoulder throwing him into the wall where he crumpled to the ground.

Sakura staggered, feeling almost completely drained by the actions. It took a moment for the proctor to get to their feet and call the match with Sakura as the winner. She nearly collapsed with relief, and the medics were quick to get them, and the proctor announced a short break while they repaired the arena due to the extensive damage.

Once the damage was cleared up enough to hold a match, the final match of the day, Gaara vs. Neji, was cleared to begin.

As they took their positions, Neji spoke, "Do you plan to attack this village like you did mine?"

Gaara grimaced. "I regret my actions back then. I only plan to win and become a chunin. I will advance down the path that will let those who I've hurt know that I am different, and I will make sure my village knows I am here to protect them."

Neji took the standard Jūken stance. "It seems Naruto has gotten to you as well. He does seem to have a way of making you rethink your decisions."

Gaara's sand swirled around him "yes, he helped open my eyes to some things. Though my siblings also did smack some sense into me as one might say."

The match began, and Gaara's sand shot forward like a snake only to be deflected by Neji's air palm. Neji moved closer and closer to Gaara and deflected the tendrils of sand that attacked. Neji stopped his advance and changed stances to perform the Hakkeshō Kaiten as sand came at him from all sides.

Once his rotations were done, Neji went on the attack again, trying to blast past Gaara's defense. For his part, Gaara looked like he was actually focusing on the fight as his sand curled around himself and Neji.

Sakura sat up in her cot in the medical tent and looked around as she heard the crowd cheering in the stadium "guess Neji and Gaara's fight is going on."

"I heard you broke the arena," Ino said as she walked up and sat next to Sakura's cot.

"I didn't break it; I just cracked it a bit."

Ino stifled her laughter "they had to hold an intermission while they fixed the arena enough for today's last fight."

Sakura adjusted her position. "Honestly, maybe they just need to make stronger buildings."

The two of them laughed quietly, and silence took its place after a moment. Sakura glanced over and sighed, "you're staring at them again."

Ino blushed and looked to the door of the medical tent. "I'm just- I wish I could have helped more. I know we've talked about it before, but I can't help it. Whenever I see your scars, I remember I was passed out the whole time tucked inside a tree."

Sakura patted her head, "It's ok. You can make it up to me with some sweets and tea." Sakura said jokingly.

Ino laughed briefly, "sure thing. I'll get you extra cake, so you don't tell my dad about my poor performance in the first exam."

"I'll hold you to that," Sakura said as she adjusted her position.

Gaara grunted as Neji landed a series of strikes to Gaara's chakra points before jumping back and using the air palm to blast away sand tendrils. Gaara panted as his sand armor cracked and fell away in chunks.

Neji cursed as sand kept attacking. "That sand of yours has a mind of its own. It's a ferocious obstacle to overcome."

"I doubt you will overcome it, but I welcome the challenge," Gaara said as his sand curled around and four tendrils fired at Neji, who pivoted and dodged as he closed the distance.

The match dragged on until Neji burned through his chakra and yielded the fight shortly after. With the final battle for the day finished, everyone was dismissed, and the winners were told to rest up and prepare for the fight tomorrow.


	20. Years Arc: Chunin Exam Finals and Aftermath

Early in the morning, well before the tournament was scheduled to continue, Sakura sat on the rooftop of the Konoha temporary housing the genin were sleeping in. She wasn't too surprised when her sensei sat down next to her. "You should be resting, Sakura-chan."

"Can't sleep, Kakashi-sensei. I've been up for a few hours now."

"I know. What's keeping you up?"

Sakura sighed and pulled her knees up to her chin. "Shinobi aren't supposed to display their emotions, sensei."

"I suppose we aren't, but there are times when you need to because if you don't, it can compromise you while you're on a mission."

"Do you have experience with that sort of thing, sensei?"

Kakashi shifted a bit. "I suppose you could say, I do. Now, what's got my genin up so early."

Sakura squeezed her legs before sighing, "I-I have nightmares sometimes about the mission to rescue Sasuke. I worry about him, you know. I know the proper shinobi things to do is consider him a traitor and not care what happens to him, but he is a good friend, someone I trust with my life. I don't want him to die. I want him to come back and live his life as a member of the village."

Kakashi patted her head and said, "It is hard to have a friend stray from the path. You're lucky or maybe unlucky to have a friend who has the potential to come back. The Hokage hasn't sent a kill order out, and Sasuke himself hasn't been accused of anything since he left, so there is hope he can come back."

Sakura smiled "hopefully." she stood up and brushed herself off "thanks, sensei." Kakashi waved her off and told her to make sure she was ready for the tournament before leaving.

The other genin wished Sakura luck and promised to cheer her on during her fight. Sakura tried not to laugh as Gaara was put up against Kankuro in the first match. She looked at Kankuro, who was looking annoyed by this "you're gonna get your ass kicked by your younger brother."

Kankuro scowled but didn't dispute her before dropping down into the arena with Gaara. As the match started, Kirisu spoke, "I like what you did to Azuraki. He's clever sometimes and a good sensor, but he's got a mouth that gets him in trouble. Getting smacked like he did is good for him, so thank you."

"Oh, uh, no problem. Azuraki-san reminds me a bit of my teammates. Both are pretty overconfident sometimes, and they pick fights with each other as much as they do strangers."

Kirisu nodded, "you must be like my other teammate then and be the peacekeeper of the group. I like fighting too much to not pass up a chance to beat someone down."

Sakura laughed, "yes, I do try to keep the peace with the idiots on my team. Our sensei is very hands-off; sometimes, he likes to let us work it out ourselves."

"Our Sensei is similar. She doesn't get involved with drama; she even lets us slug it out for a bit before stopping us."

Sakura wasn't sure why she was chatting idly to this Kumo kunoichi as they watched Kankuro struggle to take on his brother. "He's lasting longer than I thought he would."

Kirisu nodded, "you seem to know these two even though they're from the Suna."

"I'm sure you heard about Oto and Suna attacking Konoha at the last chunin exams. I led a team to track down those two and their sister before they could complete their mission. We beat them and had them tied up, but we couldn't manage three prisoners, so I scared the crap out of them and let them run home."

"Seems risky they could have become a bigger problem after you let them go."

"Yeah, but they turned out to be of benefit. Another mission I was on months later went south, and they showed up at the request of the Hokage and helped us out."

Kankuro yielded a few moments later as his puppets were rendered immobile by Gaara's sand, and Kankuro himself was surrounded on all sides.

Once the two boys cleared off, Sakura and Kirisu dropped into the arena, and Sakura was surprised when Kirisu bowed to her, "good luck Haruno-san."

Sakura returned the gesture, "you to Kirisu-san."

As the match started, Kirisu rushed Sakura without her chakra blades on. Sakura deflected the strikes and put distance between them "you're not using your blades. Why not?"

Kirisu smiled "because I want this fight to last a while. You've got crazy strength, and besides, we need to put on a good show, so those bastards know kunoichi like us exist."

Sakura cracked her knuckles and smiled, "alright, let's put on a good show, but be warned I won't go easy on you."

"Neither will I."

The two fighters clashed, trading blows and dodging or deflecting shots. The crowd was eating up the action. It may not have been flashy with ninjutsu, but the people could see the power behind the hits. Kirisu gasped as Sakura punched her in the stomach and sent her flying back. She slipped her chakra blades on as Sakura closed the distance.

Kirisu saw Sakura start to slip into the ground and adjusted her swings downward and she began to bring her knee up to hit Sakura in the chin, but her leg stopped as Sakura planted her hand on the rising knee, and Kirsiu's hands came to a stop as Sakura's hair wrapped around her wrist. Kirisu braced herself as Sakura pulled back and delivered a devastating punch cracking several ribs.

Sakura quickly released Kirsiu and dipped into the earth before popping out a few feet away. Kirisu staggered and gripped her side as she fought down the pain. Sakura didn't give her much time to recover as she was back on the attack. Kirisu's enhanced blades sliced Sakura's arms and legs as the Kumo kunoichi seemed to get a second wind and pushed Sakura's defenses.

Ino and the others cheered loudly as Sakura deflected a strike and landed a solid kick to the side of Kirisu's head, sending the girl into the ground. Sakura stood there, panting and bleeding from several dozen cuts all over her body. "That all you got, Kirisu-san?"

Kirisu stumbled to her feet. "I can keep going."

She rushed Sakura, who smiled before stepping to the side as Kirisu collapsed to the ground. The Procter checked her and declared Kirisu KOd and that Sakura was the winner. The crowd roared as Sakura waved to Ino and the others before bowing to her master then following the medics to receive treatment.

Once the medics deemed her ready to participate again, Sakura was allowed to go back to the arena where Gaara was waiting. Gaara spoke, "You've changed. The last exams, I thought nothing of you, but now you may actually pose a challenge."

Sakura tried to hold back her smile, "thank you. I hope I don't disappoint."

The match started, and Gaara's sand immediately went on the offensive, firing in tendrils towards Sakura, who threw up an earth wall that they smashed into. Sakura sent out clones to run around him and draw his sand as she slipped into the ground and appeared behind him kunai with explosive tags drawn. Sakura fired off the kunai and ran around Gaara as his sand caught the kunai that quickly exploded. The sand was too quick at getting rid of the clones, and it descended on her quickly. Sakura pulled back, dodging the sand and throwing another handful of explosive kunai to keep it from getting closer.

Sakura panted as she landed, and Gaara's sand stopped following. "That sand of yours is pretty annoying, you know."

Gaara turned to face her but stayed silent as she crouched and threw a volley of shuriken and then made several clones as Gaara's sand blocked his view to protect him. His sand lashed out and destroyed the clones. As Gaara looked around for the real Sakura, the ground beneath him cracked, and Sakura shot from the ground with her fist back ready to strike. The sand wrapped around Sakura's waist, but it couldn't stop Sakura's fist from impacting Gaara's face sending him flying as the sand threw Sakura in the opposite direction.

The two stood up, and Sakura smiled when she saw Gaara's sand armor start to crack and fall away. Gaara clutched his face as his sand swirled faster before lashing out at her. Sakura avoided the sand and tore up bits of rubble to hurl at Gaara as she moved and circled. Gaara's sand blocked the boulders, but he had to pull more back as more rocks came his way, and Sakura was able to close the distance. Gaara tried to sidestep, but Sakura's foot kicked his knee, making him buckle as she cocked her fist back, and as she moved in to punch, sand shot up between them and buffered the shot, but Sakura's fist broke through and clipped his shoulder.

Gaara tumbled a few feet but quickly staggered back to his feet as he clutched his arm. He growled and pulled his sand back to him. "You are quite powerful."

Sakura smiled and rolled her shoulders "thanks, I've been training as hard as I can since the last exams. I don't know if I can beat you, but I'm not gonna make it easy either." she tore up a large boulder and hurled it at Gaara. As it sailed through the air, she threw two explosive kunai that exploded the bolder mid-flight showering Gaara's sand with fast-moving debris. Sakura jumped through a gap and tried to punch Gaara again, but the sand was on her and threw her away from him before she could make contact.

This dance continued for a few minutes, where Sakura was able to score another hit on Gaara before his sand overwhelmed her, and she was forced to yield. Once Gaara was declared the winner of the tournament, the Kage and representatives discussed those who should be promoted. Gaara was promoted for winning the tournament, Sakura and Neji were also promoted for their resilience and ability to combat an overwhelming force. Kirisu was also promoted.

Once everything was over and the closing ceremony was finished, everyone rested up for the night and decided to celebrate once they got home. Tsunade smiled as Sakura entered her temporary quarters, "good work on getting promoted."

Sakura bowed, "Thank you, master. I wish I could have put up a better fight against Gaara-san, but I'm glad about how much progress I've made."

"You should be proud, but don't think you'll be able to slack off. Now that you're a chunin and your training is going so well, I plan on having you take on more challenges."

Sakura smiled, "I'll accept anything you have for me, master."

"Good now, if that's all, go rest up for the trip home tomorrow."

"Ah, well actually, I was curious about why only Neji-san and I passed. I know Ino didn't win her fight, but she did put up a good effort, and she showed considerable improvement from last exams."

Tsunade sighed, "While it's avoided, sometimes politics get involved in this, and I made a choice to have only you and Neji-san promoted to appease Iwa and Kumo."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "Why would promoting us be good for them?"

"If I had to guess, they plan on putting their best in the exams next year, and they want heavy hitters like you and Neji-san out to give themselves a better chance to make a big impression. These exams aren't just the alternative to war; they're advertising for the village. They're most likely planning to send the best genin they have next year."

Sakura smiled. "It'll be embarrassing if they still lose to us, ma'am."

Tsunade smiled. "It would be. I think the genin will find they'll have a lot more work ahead of them over the coming year."

Sakura bowed, "I'll help; however, I can master."

The next day Konoha moved out and started their journey back to the village. Once they arrived at the front gate, the gate watchers checked everyone in, and one of them smiled "there seems to be an issue we've got six genin leaving, but only four are coming back, and it seems you've picked up a couple chunin Hokage-sama."

Tsunade smiled, "yes, we did. You two head to the Hokage tower and get your ID's updated by tomorrow."

Neji and Sakura snapped an affirmative, and the group dispersed. Ino bumped shoulders with Sakura as they walked, "You going to do your update now?"

Sakura nodded, "yeah, then I'm going home and taking a bath. What are you going to do?"

"Go home and talk to my dad about my training. See what he thinks I need to improve. I'll um see you tomorrow. I can pay you the sweets I owe you."

Sakura smiled, "Yeah, sounds good. We have a couple days off, so we can do whatever."

Ino grinned and waved as she left, and Sakura headed into the Hokage's tower, where she updated her shinobi ID then headed home.

Tsunade entered her office and sighed as he sat down, and Shizune started making tea. A knock on the door made the Hokage's eye twitch "already people are coming to bother me. Enter!"

The door opened, and a member of the cipher core entered. "Hokage-sama..."

Tsunade tensed, seeing the solid black scroll "who?"

"Team Haruno has lost two of its members. The third made it back. He's seriously injured; they're not sure how much longer he has. He's been in the hospital since yesterday, but..."

"He's holding on until T&I is done speaking with him, isn't he?"

The shinobi nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

Tsunade cursed and held her hand out for the scroll. She opened it and fought back her anger seeing Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno's names listed as the bodies sealed in the scroll. "Do we know who did it?"

The shinobi straightened, feeling the anger seeping from their Hokage, and she stammered, "u-um we... Yes, we have a good idea about the culprits, but we have to wait for T&I to confirm it from their teammate, but it's a good chance that it was a Kumo team, most likely consisting of Jounin level shinobi."

Tsunade's desk cracked as she planted her hands and stood up. "Bring Kakashi Hatake to me, and get Shikaku Nara to set up a Jonin meeting for this afternoon."

The shinobi snapped a salute and left. Shizune looked to Tsunade with concern, "who is going to tell Sakura-san?"

Tsunade sighed as she sat down. "Kakashi is her team leader and sensei. He'll tell her."

Kakashi arrived quickly and noticed the black scroll. Tsunade informed him of the situation, and he nodded while taking the scroll. "She's going to be devastated."

"She's my student; she's strong enough to handle it. Now go and do your duty as her team leader."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said before he vanished.

Sakura stopped her prep work for dinner as she heard a knock on the door. "Coming!" she was surprised to see Kakashi at the door, "oh sensei, what are you doing here?"

Kakashi smiled as best he could, given the circumstances, and said, "I have a few things to speak with you about. May I come in?"

Sakura hesitated, seeing her sensei's face, which seemed off from his usual demeanor. "Sure sensei, come on in." Sakura stepped aside and let Kakashi in, "would you like some tea sensei?"

"No, I'm good. Please just have a seat," Kakashi said.

Sakura frowned and sat on the couch in the living room "you seem pretty serious, sensei. Is everything ok?"

Kakashi sat across from her and sighed, "first, I'd like to say I'm proud of you. You've shown considerable growth since you became a genin, and now you're a chunin. You've got so much potential. I know you'll do great things."

"Is everything ok, sensei? Not that I don't appreciate the compliments, but you're not usually this serious while in the village."

Sakura looked confused as he pulled a scroll out. She had seen it before when her grandfather on her dad's side had died. _'Maybe grangran passed? It's been quite a while since we saw her. Dad's gonna be upset, but why is Kakashi-'_ "sensei?"

"I'm sorry." he placed the scroll down on the coffee table.

Sakura's hand shook as she picked up the scroll and unfurled it. Her breath caught in her throat as she read the names of the deceased sealed inside. "I-is this... wh-what are the details?"

Kakashi frowned, seeing his student struggling to hold it together. "The situation hasn't been totally filled out, but we know it happened outside the Land of Fire. As far as we can tell, they fought an overwhelming force, and only their teammate survived. Though he was seriously injured, he brought them back to the village."

Sakura fought back against her tears like a good shinobi as she clutched the scroll. "They died doing their jobs."

Kakashi stood and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll leave you to it. Be sure to bring the scroll to the Hokage tower, and they'll help you set up the funeral. I'll let myself out."

"Th-thank you, sensei." Sakura choked out as Kakashi left. Once he was gone, she dropped the scroll, and the tears started. Her breathing escalated rapidly, and a scream crawled out of her throat as she gripped her head.


	21. Years Arc: A Year and a Half

Ino smacked her cheeks "come on, Ino, you're just going to your friend's house, and you'll go spend some time with her like always. It's nothing new you've been doing it for years."

Ino left her clan grounds and headed to Sakura's house, determined to spend some good time with Sakura and not get caught staring at her and have to make up an excuse. It took a few moments to get to Sakura's house, and once Ino was there, she knocked on the door. Ino knocked a few more times before sliding it open slowly. "Sakura, you home?"

The living room looked in order though the kitchen had food half prepped for cooking that seemed like it was there since last night. Ino stepped lightly as she moved up the stairs to the bedrooms and found Sakura's open. She tensed as she heard movement from the opposite side of the hall. Ino turned and saw the door to Sakura's parent's room was ajar. She peeked in, seeing Sakura lying in bed curled up. "Sakura, are you okay?" Ino asked as she entered.

Sakura flinched and looked up. Ino's breath caught seeing the red puffy eyes of her friend. "I-Ino, what are you doing here?"

"Wha- I came to get you so we could hang out, but that doesn't matter; why are you in here? Have you been crying?"

Ino saw the scroll as Sakura stirred and sat up. She had seen that kind of scroll a few times. Ino ran over and pulled Sakura into a hug. Her friend started shaking as fresh tears rocked her body. Once Sakura had calmed down, she told Ino the news, and Ino hugged her again tighter than before "okay, it'll be okay come on go wash up. I'll make you some breakfast."

Sakura took a shaky breath. "I-I have to go set up the funeral-"

"And we will, but you have to put yourself together. We're shinobi; you can't go out like this right now, so go wash up. I'll fix up some food, then I'll help you set up the funeral."

Sakura's hands grabbed a fist full of Inos clothes, "promise."

"I promise. Now go."

Ino got to work cleaning the kitchen and making breakfast. Sakura sat in her bath, spacing in and out as she soaked. Once breakfast was ready, Ino made sure Sakura got ready and ate before they left for the Hokage tower. Ino smiled, seeing at how well her friend had pulled herself together, and once in the tower, Sakura made sure that Ino was allowed to follow her through the process.

Shinobi's funeral preparations for those whose bodies were recovered were lengthy and took most of a day. A next of kin must be present for the confirmation of the bodies; they have to answer questions from T&I. The next of kin is then granted permission to receive the wills of all deceased shinobi. Sakura wasn't surprised that all her parents' possessions were left to her. She was surprised by how much they had saved away, though. Her parents had always lived frugal lives, but the amount still surprised her. Once the wills were read, the bodies are cremated, and the next day is set for the funeral.

Sakura and Ino sat in a side room to fill out paperwork as Sakura's parents were cremated. Ino tried for a smile as she spoke, "do you want me to stay around after we're all done here?"

Sakura finished her paperwork and nodded, "If you don't mind. I'm probably just gonna get something from a store for dinner on my way home."

Ino smiled, "sounds good. How about I buy some sweets as well, and then we can call it even."

"That sounds good to me," Sakura said as they got up and handed in the last of the paperwork, and she was given the time of the funeral. Sakura sighed as they walked home. "It's early in the morning."

"Best to get it done first thing in the morning than having to wait all day," Ino said as she bumped shoulders with Sakura, who nodded and hummed in confirmation.

That night Ino was about to lay out a futon when Sakura shifted in her bed "can you sleep here tonight? Like when we were younger."

Ino fought down her blush and nodded, "y-yeah, okay."

"You don't have to. I know it-"

"No!- um no, I mean, it's okay. It's just like you said we haven't done this in years, so I was surprised.

Ino smiled as she slipped into the covers, "goodnight Sakura."

Sakura smiled, "goodnight Ino."

Naruto stared out at the ocean as the boat he and Jiraiya were on sailed closer and closer to the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools. Naruto jumped as Jiraiya patted his shoulder "kid, you paying attention; I said we're almost there; get ready."

"O-oh, sorry pervy sage, I blanked out there, I guess," Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head.

Jiraiya looked at his student who had been spacing out more and more the closer they got to Uzushiogakure. He had heard the rumors about some sort of jutsu they enacted before the village fell. It had conflicting accounts about what happened. Some say it's a barrier; others say it killed everyone on the island. Some people say that in their dying breath, the Uzumaki released every chakra beast they had ever captured, and now they roam the island killing anything and everything they come across. None of the rumors mentioned anything about what was happening with Naruto, but Jiraiya had a gut feeling that whatever happened in Uzushiogakure was affecting Naruto as they got closer.

Once they docked, the captain quickly kicked the two off his ship before sailing to what he considered a safe distance. Jiraiya had negotiated for the captain to wait one week, and if he and Naruto didn't signal for him to pick them up, he could leave. Jariya did incentivize a large payout if the captain waited.

"Oi, come on brat, we got a bit of ground to cover, and we don't know what we'll run into."

"Yeah yeah, ya, perv, I'm coming." Naruto adjusted his pack and ran to catch up to his master. Right as Naruto stepped off the docks and onto the dirt, a ripple washed over the island making the trees sway.

Jiraiya looked around as Naruto's head snapped around "what the heck was that?!"

"You're an Uzumaki kid; there might have been a barrier set up to react to you. Who knows what it triggered. Be on your toes."

Naruto snapped a salute "will do pervy sage."

They moved down the main road from the docks towards the village, being sure to check for traps or anything strange. They made camp a few miles from the village, and Jiraiya nudged Naruto, "what are you feeling?"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow, "huh? Hungry, I guess? Little tired, I didn't sleep well on the boat."

"No, not that. You've been spacing out more and more the closer we get to the village. What happens when you space out? What do you feel before or after you come around?"

Naruto scratched his head as he thought, "it's kinda gradual y'know I don't notice when it happens, and wherever I snap out of it, I can't really remember what happens when I space out. I guess my head feels kinda light afterward. I don't know, it feels weird, I guess."

Jiraiya finished scribbling something down in his notebook and nodded, "if it starts happening again, try to fight it."

Naruto nodded, "will do pervy sage."

The next day they headed for the village and stopped at the ruined gates, and Jiraiya held up a hand to stop as he saw the slight shimmer at the border of the village. "There's a barrier up we'll have to find the anchors-" he stopped suddenly and pulled Naruto behind some rubble as he saw someone inside the village approaching the ruined gates.

The approaching man had short red hair and was dressed in a light gray battle kimono with a black flak jacket over it bearing the Uzushiogakure spiral on its shoulders and back. He looked around before speaking, "we know you're here. Please come out; you're in no danger here."

"You stay hidden. I'll go out." Jiraiya said, forcing Naruto to sit down, "I'll signal if I want you to come out."

Naruto was going to protest but kept his mouth shut when he saw the seriousness in Jiraiya's eyes. He nodded and let his master step out from the rubble. Jiraiya smiled as he approached the barrier with his hands raised "hello there, I'm sorry about that. I wasn't expecting to run into anyone else here; not many people come around here nowadays."

The shinobi's face remained neutral. "I would appreciate it if you brought out my clan mate as well. We know he's here. He triggered the barrier after you had already crossed it."

"Oh, that's a pretty fancy barrier though I have to wonder how you're an Uzumaki. You're all supposed to be dead as the rumors say."

The shinobi smiled, "we are dead; there's only a few of us left alive in the world. Now please bring out the Uzumaki you have with you. We will let you into the barrier once he is present."

Jiraiya's eyes flickered around before he signaled, and Naruto stepped out. The shinobi at the gate frowned, "you're blonde."

Naruto huffed "yeah, what of it? I've got my dad's hair. Do you have a problem with that?!"

The shinobis smiled came back, "Oh good, you've got her attitude. Glad to see at least that made it."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Naruto snapped.

"You recognize him?" Jiraiya asked as the shinobi placed his hand on the barrier.

"No, I've never seen this boy in my life, but you're from Konoha, and you remind me of a distant cousin I knew. She was forced to Konoha because of our alliance. In the end, it saved her life for a time. Kushina was the epitome of Uzumaki's attitude and power. It was sad to see her leave, but when the attack happened, those of us who knew her were glad she wasn't here."

The barrier shimmered and receded enough for Jiraiya and Naruto to enter. Naruto smiled, "you're my mom's cousin, that's so cool."

The shinobi shrugged, "distant, but more or less, yes. That's not important, though; you need to head down the main path and go to the elder's mansion. It's the biggest building at the end of the road."

Jiraiya eyes the shinobi as he closed the barrier, "and why can you not escort us there?"

The shinobi smiled. "I figured the master of fuinjutsu that you are Jiraiya-sama, you would recognize why I can't. Though I suppose it would help if I showed you this." the shinobi walked over and pulled aside a tattered banner to reveal a seal carved into the wall.

Jiraiya sucked in his breath "that- you're..."

"Yes, I'm bound to this gate. I'm just a remnant of chakra I poured in as much as I could before I died. My job is to let in any Uzumaki who comes here and to let them out. I'll do this until I burn up all the chakra in the seal, then the barrier will remain closed forever."

Naruto looked confused, "huh? A remnant? What's that?"

"He's basically a ghost. Before his death, he poured his chakra into that seal along with a piece of his soul. The seal holds the soul in place using chakra and lets the soul manifest. Once the chakra is burned up, he'll move on to the afterlife."

The shinobi nodded, "there are a few of us in the village. We set this up in case a survivor came back. Though this is the first time we were woken up, so to speak. Now hurry and run along to the elder. He'll want to speak with you."

Naruto stared aw struck as the shinobi vanished into the seal "wow, that's crazy."

"This village was known and feared for its fuinjutsu and high chakra reserves. The Uzumaki were the ruling clan, but they weren't the only clan that lived here." Jiraiya said as they moved down the main road.

"What were some of the other clans like?"

Jiraiya shrugged, "Honestly, kid, I don't know. Your mom never talked to me a lot about the village. She may have told your father or her best friend, Mikoto-san."

"Oh-oh, who's Mikoto-san? Can I talk to her about mom?"

Jiraiya shook his head, "no can do. Mikoto was an Uchiha specifically; she was your friend Sasuke's mother. She died with the rest of her clan when Itachi went rouge."

Naruto's head dropped "that's too bad."

Jiraiya patted his head, "it's alright, kid. You'll probably be learning a lot if what the guy at the gate said was correct."

Naruto's mood recovered, and he smiled, "you think so? What do you think the elder is like?"

"Based on accounts I've seen and what your mother has said is that he's a serious man, and he was a master at fuinjutsu, so don't be rude who knows what he'll do."

It took a few minutes to reach the elder's mansion. Jiraiya went to knock, but the door slid open on its own. They entered cautiously and saw a paper lantern ignite, followed by another and another that trailed down a hallway. Jiraiya took the lead and followed the lanterns to the main chamber, where the last head of the Uzumaki clan sat alone. He looked up and in a gruff and deep voice spoke, "please sit Jiraiya-sama, Uzumaki-san."

The two of them sat down, and Naruto fidgeted as the elder eyed him. "You don't show any physical signs of our clan, but I can sense it in your blood. You are my kin, and I would like to know your name."

"U-um I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"Naruto... that is an acceptable name. You are Kushina's child, correct?"

"Yeah, I am, but I didn't get to know her."

"Oh, why is that?" the elder said, tilting his head.

Naruto explained everything that Kakashi and Jiraiya had told him about his parents' death and how he ended up with the Kyubi sealed inside him. The elder nodded and listened intently until Naruto was done before speaking again. "It is regrettable that you did not get to meet her. She could have passed a great many things onto you, but just because she cannot does not mean your clan can't. Those of us who sealed ourselves away have spent this time gathering what survived. A great many of us have passed before the work is complete, but we pulled what we could, and we waited for the time when a clan member would return home and collect what they are now owed."

The elder motioned, and a woman came in and placed a large scroll thicker than the toad sealing contact and a smaller scroll in front of Naruto. She bowed and left without a word. The elder motioned for Naruto to go to them. "You are the first Uzumaki to come here, and as such, I will name you the new head of the Uzumaki clan. While there may not be any more members than you, I must pass the title on so that you can take possession of these scrolls. The smaller one contains the traditional clothing worn by the clan head when we would go to war. I doubt you will have use for them, but I ask that you keep them."

Naruto nodded as he tucked the scroll away. "I'll keep them even if I don't need them."

The elder nodded, "thank you. The other scroll is the collective knowledge of the village. It is not our complete knowledge; many secrets have been lost forever due to death and destruction. I hope it will serve you well."

Naruto placed the scroll between him and Jiraiya as he sat down. "C-can you tell me what this place was like? What was our clan like? I want to know so much more about you guys and y'know!"

The elder laughed, "Don't worry, my child. I have time left in this world. I'll tell you all I can if you'll stay to listen."

Naruto nodded enthusiastically as the elder started to tell stories of their clan. Hours later, the elder bowed as he faded away, and Jiraiya and Naruto, now with this new scroll slung across his back, left the mansion and headed for the village entrance to head back out.

"I have to do what?" Sasuke asked as he stared at the redheaded girl in front of him. He was low on chakra, and his head felt light, so he wasn't sure if he heard her correctly.

She blushed and pulled her sleeve up. "I said you have to bite me, okay. I have special chakra; you bite me, and it'll heal your physical wounds and restore your chakra."

Sasuke sighed and grabbed her wrist, "how hard?"

"Break skin."

"Great," Sasuke said before he sank his teeth into her arm and broke the skin. Karin bit back a moan. She hated how it felt when someone bit her. It was embarrassing, and she couldn't seem to get used to it either.

A moan slipped out, and Sasuke cocked an eyebrow as he pulled away, and her arm healed up, leaving a scar behind. Karin blushed "okay, look, I know what I did, but it's not like that."

Sasuke got back to his feet and just walked off to continue his training again against the new opponents Orochimaru brought. This was the third batch this week, and he was getting closer to beating them.

Karin huffed and skulked off, wishing she was back at the prison. She stood in the back, watching Sasuke fight several people at once. Orochimaru had called her back to the main base to assist his latest obsession in growing stronger, and so far, he was attractive but aloof. He kept everyone at a distance and didn't seem to interact with others in the base unless he had to.

Sasuke finished his training and looked over at Karin, who was sulking in the corner. He sighed and walked over, "girl."

Karin's eye twitched, "my name is Karin."

"Karin. I wanted to... thank you for healing me earlier."

"O-oh, okay, um, it's no problem Lord Orochimaru told me to, so it's not like I have a choice."

Sasuke grunted and walked off, ending the conversation.

Ino put a hand on her hip as she let Sakura in "you're late."

Sakura smiled, "I know, but Tsunade-sama had to talk to me about something important."

"Oh, more important than your best friend?"

Sakura rolled her eyes as she took her shoes off, "discussing whether or not I should attempt to make a contract with the slugs is pretty important, and I'm not Naruto. I can't just say no to the Hokage when she says stay."

Ino gasped, "she's gonna let you make a summoning contract?"

"No, she's considering if she'll let me talk to the slugs. They're the ones who will decide if I'm worth it."

Sakura fell in step behind Ino as they walked into her living room "well, I think you're worth it, and those slugs will too if they're smart. If not, I'll have to go have a talk with them."

Sakura shook her head, "I would feel bad for them having to deal with an angry Ino."

"Oh, Sakura-chan, it's good to see you again." Ino's mother said as she walked out of the kitchen.

Sakura bowed, "It's good to see you again to Yamanaka-san."

Ino's mother waved her hand, "come now, I've told you a million times you don't need to be so formal."

Sakura smiled and rubbed her head "apologies force of habit to be really formal. Especially with how much time I've been spending in the Hokage tower." _'ah shit, I forgot her name again. I'll need to ask Ino while we're out.'_

Ino's mother smiled, "no worries, dear. Now you two run off and enjoy the new year festival."

Ino grabbed Sakura, "come on, I gotta grab something from my room, then we can go."

Sakura rolled her eyes as she followed Ino to her room "you complain about me being late, and you're not even ready yet. Honestly, I can't believe you."

"You were supposed to get here on to time so that we had time to do this and still not be late, but now we're going to be late," Ino said as she tucked her wallet in her pocket. She smiled and grabbed Sakura, leading her quickly to the main street where the festival was taking place.

"Shame the others couldn't join us. It'd be pretty fun with all of us together." Sakura said as they walked by the various vendors and stalls.

Ino chuckled half-heartedly, "such a shame."

Sakura looked at her, quizakly, "you good?"

Ino sighed, "yeah, I'm good. I'm just worried about you. It's been a few months since your parents, and you seem like you're doing well now, so I want to be happy, but I'm also worried you're keeping something from me."

Sakura smiled. "It's okay, Ino. I really am doing better. I've mourned, and I've moved on. Nowadays, I focus on my work and my training."

Ino's arm wrapped around Sakura's "yeah, that's part of the problem. You just work and train. You don't even go on missions anymore, and you don't really hang out with me anymore."

"What are you talking about? We hang out all the time."

Ino glared "this is the first time in two months I've seen you. You almost weren't gonna come, and even when I did convince you to come with me, you were late."

Sakura tried her best for a smile, but Ino could tell it wasn't right. It wasn't the smile she loved to see; it was brittle and thin, something that looked like it could break at any minute. "I'm sorry, Ino. I haven't been a good friend, I guess. The mission thing was Tsunade-sama's choice. She said with what happened to my parents and the rising tension between Kumo and us, she didn't want me going out on missions. I was in Hot Springs when the inciting incident happened, and I'm her student, so I'm a big target."

"You're still working yourself hard. Hospital shifts, working in the Hokage's tower, and your training I know you're putting in a lot of hours."

"To be fair, the hospital and the Hokage's tower is pretty much just paperwork. I'm basically a glorified assistant to Tsunade-sama."

Ino sighed and shook her head, "just promise you'll take some time every now and then for your friends. We're all working hard, but we do like to get together every now and then, and I'm not the only one who misses you."

Sakura's smile looked a bit less forced as she bumped shoulders with Ino. "I'll try my best."

"Good, that's all I ask. I miss my best friend a lot, y'know. In fact, for all the distress you've caused me, I demand you treat me to something to eat."

Ino tried her best to not blush as Sakura grabbed her hand and rolled her eyes. "Alright, come on, what would you like, Yamanaka-hime?"

Ino straightened her posture and made her best attempt to act like a Hyuga. "I demand only the finest takoyaki."

Sakura performed an exaggerated bow "as you wish, princess. I will acquire some immediately."

The two laughed as they walked around and enjoyed the various foods and games. As the celebrations died down after midnight and the two of them sat in a park near Sakura's house. Ino smiled, "Been a while since we came here. I think the last time was when we became genin."

Sakura nodded, "my mom scared me half to death when I came back. She was just sitting there in the doorway. She asked how you were."

Ino laughed as they sat on the swings "we've been through a lot since then, haven't we?"

"Ugh yeah. Some of us more than others."

Ino punched her friend's arm, "you kept running into nonsense because your teammates are crazy."

"Yea, they're both pretty crazy."

Ino took a deep breath as she looked at Sakura. Her best friend who used to get picked on all the time. Someone she used to feel like she needed to protect but ever since they've become genin, Sakura started shooting up in strength to keep up with her teammates. Now Ino couldn't help but stare at Sakura. The added muscles and scars were a bonus in Ino's opinion. "Hey, Sakura... I- I got something I want to tell you. It's been on my mind for a while, and I wasn't sure if I should say anything, but I feel like I need to."

Sakura smiled as she looked over to Ino, making the Yamanaka's heart skip "oh so serious. What's been on your mind for so long?"

Ino took another deep breath and said, "you."

Sakura's face went from smiles to confused, and Ino decided to just go for it. "I space out sometimes, but actually most of the time when you're around, it's because I just get distracted by you. You're pretty, strong, and frankly, ever since that mission in the Land of Waves, you've been getting cooler and cooler. I can't stop worrying about you, and you're stuck in my head."

"You like me a lot more than I thought," Sakura said.

Ino's brain stopped for a moment. "wait, what?"

"I wasn't sure if you did or not, and I didn't want to bring it up if I was wrong because that would be pretty embarrassing. I figured it was either my imagination or you would tell me when you wanted."

Ino buried her face in her hands. "I'm really embarrassed."

"But don't you want to get it all off your chest. You have more to say, right?"

Ino picked her head up "y-yeah. I-I like you a lot, Sakura. As the years went by, you started being my best friend, and then we were closer and closer, and I just want to keep getting closer."

Sakura smiled and kneeled in front of Ino. "I'm glad you told me. I-I haven't really thought about relationships or anything like that, but I wouldn't mind getting to try things out with you."

Sasuke wanted to groan as he dragged Suigetsu back to Kabuto, who put him in a holding container. "Good job Sasuke, Karin. Lord Orochimaru will be grateful for bringing back such an important test subject."

"Whatever, just try to keep a better eye on your test subjects. I'm not here to clean up your mistakes and fetch your pets." Sasuke said as he turned and left.

Karin followed him out and said, "Kabuto creeps me out."

She was surprised when Sasuke actually responded, "He creeps everyone out. The only one worse than him is Orochimaru."

Karin covered her mouth and tried not to laugh as she followed him and actually managed to hold a conversation.


End file.
